Arctic Bloom
by universesalternating
Summary: ATLA AU: Sokka and Katara find a boy frozen in ice. Things happen. [In this fic Sokka is a cis female.]
1. The Boy in the Iceberg

"I know you can do it Katara." Sokka said as sweetly as she could. "Just guide it into the basket. The water can then drain out and you can water bend that water out."

"It's not that easy Sokka!" Katara complained. "I can't do that!"

"That's fine," Sokka tried to say reassuringly, "Do what you can."

Her words seemed to calm Katara briefly as the girl turned towards the water and tried to bend it to the best of her abilities. The water came up above both of their heads with a fish swimming in it. The nets were currently out of commission and Sokka didn't trust herself with a spear. Her preferred weapon of choice was her boomerang or her club.

Soon the water was above the basket, but as a current suddenly got hold of their canoe, Katara's concentration was broken. The ice cold water dropped on Sokka and the fish dropped back into the water. Before she could worry about that though, Sokka focused her attention on navigating through the water. And Katara helped. But even with the two working together, soon the boat was crushed and they are left stranded.

Knowing Katara's emotions could get the best of her, Sokka wanted to make sure she didn't get to upset about the little mishap. If she could just assure Katara that the crash wasn't her fault, hopefully they could work together to find a way back to the village without freezing. But before Sokka could even start to formulate what to say, she heard ice cracking very close to her. Worried that she was about to get separated from her sister, she scrambled to get to her, noticing that Katara was kneeling on the ice, shaking in anger.

"Katara, I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention and I got us swept up into that current but I'm su-"

"Stop it!" Katara yelled. "You should've known I couldn't do it! Now we're stranded." The ice around them kept making the ominous cracking sounds.

"Now don't tell me not to believe in you, I know my talented sister can do anything with her magic an-"

"It's not magic Sokka! It's bending and maybe if I had a teacher or even just more information about what I could do I would be able to do all the things you think I can do but I can't!" Katara finally looked at her older sister, but found the other girl starring at something behind her. She turned around to see a giant glowing orb that had risen to the surface of the ocean.

They do end up getting their ride back to their village, though not in the way Sokka ever would have expected. She sits quietly listening to Katara and Aang chat. She doesn't know if she trusts this young boy, but nevertheless she has given him one of her jackets to wear. Despite what he says, Sokka knows he has to be cold in the clothes he is wearing. She's not as warm as she could be, but by wrapping her arms around herself, Sokka feels that she'll make it back to the village with no frostbite.

She does not admit that part of the reason she gave Aang her coat is because his large beast had sneezed on it.

By the time they get back, the sky is dark and everyone but GranGran is asleep. Sokka feels disappointed in herself for not bringing back any food but knows that they have enough to last them another week, so Sokka knows she will have another chance to go. Sokka goes to wash her hair while Katara explains Aang to GranGran, and by the time the older girl returns, everyone is asleep, including the beast Aang called Appa.

The next morning Aang continues to worry Sokka with his presence. He knocks over one of her watch towers, and though she knows it was an accident, it still bothers her. She is pleasantly surprised when he shows his talents at entertaining the children. It gives Sokka and the other women more time to fix the nets so Sokka can go catch more fish.

Once the nets are done, Sokka decides it is time to work with the young boys of the tribe, reminding them that they are warriors. She would never give them actual weapons, but she lets them work with staffs. Sokka knows that someone else should be teaching this, but she is the only one there. As they get older, Sokka plans on learning more about the fighting styles of the tribe from what the other women can remember, but for now she uses basic attack and defense moves. None of the boys seem to take her too seriously, and soon most of them seem to want a potty break. Usually she can keep their attention for at least an hour, but she has a feeling that Aang plays some part in their distraction.

Luckily Katara offers to teach Aang how to catch penguins, and it gets him away from the village for a bit. Sokka is still a little wary to send the boy off alone with Katara, but she knows that Katara can protect herself with even her basic knowledge of water bending. Aang's absence gives her the opportunity to get more done without distraction.

Soon Sokka's left regretting that decision as she sees the flare from the abandoned Fire Navy shipwreck.


	2. The Avatar Returns

Sokka nearly took of running when she saw the flare go off, but GranGran kept her at the village. She talked it over with GranGran and the other women and they decided that Aang was probably a bigger threat then they originally assumed. Feeling guilty about their decision anyway, Sokka packed up a small bag for Aang with some clothes and dried food.

When they do return Sokka explains that it is better for the village if Aang leaves. At first Katara tries to go with him, but GranGran helps convince her to stay with the family. Hearing her sister snap about losing her one chance to become a water bender almost makes Sokka want to call Aang back to take Katara to the Northern Water Tribe. But there are more important preparations on her mind.

Sokka is not a warrior. She knows her father always wanted a boy, her masculine name is enough to remind her of that. She's not going to be so foolish as to put warpaint on herself. Instead she puts on the cleanest dress and hopes that if the fire benders do come that they can listen to reason… or at least believe her lies. Instead of trying to get the young boys to be warriors, she sends them to the mothers. She also demands Katara stay by GranGrans side no matter what happens. And as the large black ship draws nearer, she takes deep breathes to calm herself. She keeps her hands behind her back to keep them from shaking and hopes that she looks composed and worthy of respect. She is only 15, but she has been helping take care of the tribe for many years and as Chief Hakoda's eldest daughter, it is her job to be the voice of her people while he is gone.

Sokka cringes as she watches the things she worked hard to build just crumble as the ship crashes through them. She feels her breathe start to quicken as the hatch opens and the four men come down. Before she can even ask why they are there, the leader of the men brushes right past her towards Katara.

"Where are you hiding him?" The man looks around and then grabs onto GranGran. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" Sokka watches him shove her grandmother away and she quickens her pace towards him. Not getting an answer fast enough the man release an arc of flame above the villagers, frightening all of them. Sokka grabs his arm by the sleeve, ending his blast of fire. He turns towards her angry, and that's when she can see the scar on his face.

"I know you're hiding him!" He practically barks at her.

"Hiding who?" Sokka questions.

"The Avatar." The tables turn and now Sokka is in the man's grip. His hand is hot on her arm, but she tries to look composed.

"Everyone knows the Avatar disappeared one hundred years ago. If you are hear because of the flare that went off, I can explain." Sokka says, trying to change the subject.

"Oh can you?"

"Yes. We are running low on food and though we have always been told to stay away from the ship, I was hoping that I might be able to find some preserved food on there. But instead I just found it booby-trapped."

He appears to consider her statement for a brief moment. "Then what was that thing I saw flying away from the shipwreck?"

"A bird maybe?" Sokka answers quickly. "Maybe it was just a piece that flew off while the ship was collapsing."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" He says with a glare. He seems to have gathered that she's important to the tribe from the way that the others are looking at her. "Well then, unless anyone has any other information," the fire bender proclaims loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'll arrest you for trespassing and take you back to a Fire Nation prison."

The women gasp and Sokka tries to set her face in a hard line. She prays that Katara won't do anything dumb, but before she can worry about her, something sweeps the man's feet out from under him and Sokka is free from his grasp.

The children cheer and Sokka realizes that Aang has come back. "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. You look pretty." He says with a cheeky grin.

"Hi Aang." Sokka says a bit sharply. "Thanks for coming."

The fire benders surround Aang, but he showers them all with snow. The fire bender with the scar melts it off of himself before glaring at Aang.

"Looking for me?" The airbender says.

"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" The scarred man says sounding shocked. Sokka hears her sister say Aang's name, obviously shocked too. The fire bender keeps talking. "I've sent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just a child!"

Aang cocks his head. "Well, you're just a teenager." That's when Sokka sees it, even under the armor, the fire bender is probably closer to her age than she originally assumed.

But he's still very dangerous. And when Aang offers to go with him so he'll stop attacking the village, she can't help but be a little relieved. Of course, her sister's anger at Aang being taken away quickly becomes her next problem to deal with. Grabbing what supplies she can, she prepares a canoe. Kanna also supplies them with quite a bit more, implying that they have a big journey ahead of them. When the Fire Nation ship takes off, Katara and Sokka are quick to follow after it. However, their canoe isn't that quick. Thankfully, Aang's friend Appa shows up to help.

The attack on the Fire Nation ship goes by so quickly Sokka barely remembers it. She is horrified to let her sister got on the ship to freeze some of the guards, and even more scared when Aang comes out of the water glowing. But soon she herself is involved in the battle scrambling to get Aang onto Appa's back. She also rushes to get Aang's staff. The scarred fire bender tries to keep it from her, but she shoves him off over the side of the boat. "You'll never get me into a Fire Nation prison." She says a bit vindictively before she rushes back over to Appa. Soon all of them are taking off and easily avoiding the bursts of fire.

Before they get far, Katara turns to her with a look that says she's trying to plead with her to stay with them. Sokka just grins. "Hey, if I get to mess with fire benders and keep an eye on you and your boyfriend at the same time, I'm all for it." Katara gets upset at the little comment, but she can see both of them blushing.


	3. The Southern Air Temple

Aang lies to Sokka, burns her food, nearly kills her playing a game, and nearly kills her going all glowy again, but when Katara says that they are each other's family now, Sokka can't help but agree.

Her new little brother's pet bringing her food to eat helps sweeten the deal.


	4. The Kyoshi Warriors

The amount of places they have to stop at so Aang can have fun is ridiculous. Sokka knows that he's a 12 year old boy, but it doesn't excuse the many stops they've made. Sokka just wants to get to the Northern Water Tribe so Katara can learn how to bend. Kyoshi Island is the last stop she's willing to put up with, and she wishes it will be the last time Aang tries to impress Katara, but she knows she'll probably end up having to put up with a lot more.

After Aang nearly dies thanks to a giant fish, they are ambushed. Sokka's getting really tired of the whole mess.

When their blindfolds finally come off, she's surprised to see all women. "Who are you?" She demands. "Where are the men who ambushed us?"

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" says one of the young women. A mixture of jealousy and anger wells up inside of Sokka. She just huffs and decides to not answer the woman's questions. Of course Aang and Katara end up working things out and they're free.

"Sokka, what's your problem? Eat!" Aang demands.

Sokka doesn't move from where she is with her arms crossed. "I'm not hungry." Ever since they got to the island and met the warrior's Sokka has felt an uncomfortable feeling in her chest.

"But you're always hungry!" Sokka ignores Aang's comment trying to understand her feelings.

"She's just mad she got bested yesterday." Katara said with a tone that Sokka didn't like. "She's always been the best in our village at everything and she's mad there's someone better than her at something."

"That's not it!" Sokka exclaims. It's the first time she's raised her voice at Katara in a long time.

"Just because you're not good at fighting now doesn't mean you can't learn." Katara says, in a kinder tone.

"I don't want to be a fighter. That's not a woman's place." Sokka's surprised at the words that come out of her mouth, they don't even sound like they belong to her.

Her comment surprises Katara and then angers her. Her younger sister ends up storming away with Aang in tow. Upset about how things turned out, Sokka decides to go give the Kyoshi Warriors a piece of her mind, or at least get an apology from them for the way they attacked them the day before.

Instead of doing that, Sokka ends up watching the girls practice from outside. Their doors are open and from where Sokka stands she can see in, but they can't see her. She ends up doing this the next day, but unfortunately the one called Suki catches her.

"What do you want?" Suki says in a hostile tone.

Sokka keeps her head down. "I would be honored if you would teach me."

"Even though I'm not a man?" Sokka could hear the anger in Suki's voice.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier… Either by implying that you would've needed men to ambush us or by ignoring your questions. I was… and am jealous of you." Sokka admitted.

"We normally don't teach outsiders." Suki said in a slightly less harsh tone.

"I understand." Sokka said with a quick bow of her head. "It was stupid of me to think you would make an exception. This is a skill passed down from generation to generation I'm sure, and it would be stupid of me to try and disrupt that tradition." Sokka tried to back her way away from Suki, but the young woman grabbed Sokka's arm.

"I'll make an exception for you." She said quickly. "You're traveling with the avatar. It's smart for you to have a way to protect him." Suki paused. "And yourself."

Suki and Sokka became quick friends. Suki wanted Sokka to put on the full ceremonial garb, but they both decided against it. They didn't know how long they'd have to train together, and Suki wanted Sokka to feel comfortable in the clothes she was fighting in. Suki taught Sokka in quick lessons, and as they got more and more days to spend together, Suki would elaborate on the lessons. While she never gets into the dress, Sokka is taught what it means by Suki. Soon Suki also lets her practice with weapons, but Sokka finds that she is still much more comfortable with her boomerang and her club.

Too soon the Fire Nation catches up with them. Sokka is desperate to find her sister and Aang and get them out of there quickly. While she searches for them, she sees the Kyoshi Warriors fight against the fire benders. They are amazing and strong, but there are too many from the Fire Nation. She sees the scarred young man get knocked off his rhino by Suki, but then once he rights himself, he attacks, possibly hurting Sokka's teacher. Sokka gets behind him and hits him with her club getting his attention. He recognizes her and charges, probably hoping to capture her, but Sokka uses his own force against him and flipping him over before she helps Suki get away.

"There's no time for good-byes." Suki says.

"What about, 'Thank you'?"

"For what?" The warrior says surprised.

"You taught me even though I'm a girl, I can be a warrior too. And I can break tradition too, and save more people that way."

"Good." Suki says with a grin. "Don't forget that." She gets her fans ready. "Now get out of here! We'll hold them off."

And the Kyoshi Warriors did. Aang helped by using their Unagi to put out the fires, and soon the trio was on their way again. But Sokka had to admit, if their pitstops could help her meet more people like Suki, she would gladly make a million more.


	5. The King of Omashu

Once again Aang nearly gets her killed, this time with candy. Sokka spends the whole time wishing she were back on Kyoshi Island.


	6. Imprisoned

Getting told by some strange earth bender that the way that they're dressed makes them look crazy isn't exactly what Sokka wants to hear. After spending a few hour foraging for food and finding nothing but nuts, all she really wants is something to eat. But instead they ended up on some crazy chase after this earth bender… who is claiming he isn't a bender.

And then someone from the Fire Nation shows up, and Sokka isn't at all surprised to see him extorting the people from this small town. She listens while they talk about the Fire Nation and bending. The more Sokka hears about Katara's water bending, the quicker she wants to get the younger girl to the Northern Water Tribe. But when Haru's mother explains that they take away benders, Sokka wants nothing more than to keep her sister close to her.

Sokka ends up having to let go of her sister too soon when they come up with a plan to free the earth benders from the metal Fire Nation ship. After twelve hours of separation they sneak on the ship to get Katara.

"Your twelve hours are up; where's Haru? We've gotta get out of here."

"I can't."

Sokka grabbed her sister's arm. "We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Get on!"

Aang asks Katara what's wrong, and that's when she explains why she can't leave. She still wants to help the people there. There's a bit of the disagreement, but once again, Katara wins and the trio stays behind to help. They figure out a way to get coal for the earth bender's to use, and soon it is morning.

"There's the intruder!" Some guard yells, and soon the water tribe siblings are surrounded. Hopefully Aang is doing his part, but just in case Sokka gets her boomerang out to fight with. Some older earth bender yells at Katara to stop, but Sokka knows that's not going to stop her from trying. Even the wardens threat of death does nothing. The earth benders not fighting back does put a dampen in Katara's spirit, but soon enough Haru and his father and all the other bender's are fighting.

Surprisingly enough, Sokka fights too. She uses her boomerang to break the spears of the Fire Nation guards and throws the sharp pieces up for Momo to play keep away with. Once they are disarmed she uses what the Kyoshi Warrior taught her to knock some of the guards off the ship before the earth benders do their final big push to get the Fire Nation off.

Soon enough the trio is back on Appa, having said their goodbyes to Haru and the earth benders.

"You know Sokka, for saying that girls can't fight, you sure were doing a lot of it back on the boat." Katara points out.

"I didn't say girls can't fight Katara. I just didn't think that they should fight…" Sokka pauses. "Or maybe I didn't like the idea of them being in danger?" Sokka tries to collect her thoughts. "But then again, even if someone isn't fighting doesn't mean that they're not in danger." The train of thought lead Sokka to think about her mom. She's then horrified when she looks at Katara's neck and sees that her mother's necklace is no longer there. "Mother's necklace…" Sokka says pointing at Katara's neck.

"It's gone!" Katara finishes with a horrified look that matches Sokka's.


	7. Winter Solstice, Part 1-The Spirit World

Sokka was beginning to worry about Katara. Not because there was anything wrong with her, but because everything seemed so right. After they found the burnt patch of Earth, she was the one to make Aang feel better. Then when they got to the village that needed help, she was the one there to tell Aang that he could be the bridge between the spirit world and the real world, while Sokka had her doubts. Above all, Sokka is worried that the loss of their mother's necklace is weighing down on Katara more than she wants to let on. But until her sister tells her so, Sokka doesn't want to remind her of the loss.

Later while they watch Aang try to talk to the spirit by the center building, she focuses her worry on Aang rather than her sister. As soon as the actual spirit shows up and starts to hurt Aang, Sokka can no longer heed the villagers requests and she exits the building.

"Hei Bai, over here!" She yells before she throws her boomerang at the spirit. Aang yells at her to go back, but instead she yells back. "We'll fight him together, Aang." Before she can hear what Aang was going to say, she is taken by the Hei Bai.

"Aang!" Sokka yells when she sees the airbender. "Over here! Help!"

"Hang on, Sokka!" The Avatar tried to pull her hand out to free her, but the spirit suddenly fades, taking Sokka with it.

While Sokka is trapped wherever she ended up, she thinks. As far as she can tell there is no one else around her, so she is free to say what she feels without fear of anyone over hearing.

"I don't understand why I went to fight the spirit." She admits. "It is not as if I could've done anything. I don't even understand why I have come along on this journey. To protect Katara? She can protect herself. I keep thinking that she's going to have a melt down because she lost the necklace, but she doesn't even seem to care. She has other bigger things to focus on I guess."

Sokka takes a deep breathe. "Why do I keep fighting? Why should I? Is it even my place to do so?" She pauses again, the words in her mouth feeling unfamiliar. "Why do I think that?"

The sound of silence is her only answer.

Sokka sits there trying to collect all her thoughts again. She thinks of Katara. She would never tell Katara to stop fighting. But Katara is different from her. Katara can waterbend. And on top of that Katara is the second born daughter of Hakoda. There's less of a chance she'd be used for an arranged marriage. Her water bending talents make her more than just a bride. But there's also little chance Sokka would ever be used for an arranged marriage. "Even if the warriors ever came back, they all have wives and families already. There's no people in the Southern Water Tribe for me to marry." She pauses. "Not that I even want to marry. I'm not sure I would want to have a family knowing that it could be taken away from me so easily. Even with the Avatar back, it might take a long time to actually defeat the Fire Nation."

Sokka huffed and tried to get back to her original train of thought. Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors fought. But they had trained for a long time to fight. They were probably smart enough to know not to get into a fight with a spirit. They were truly warriors. Sokka couldn't help but wonder what their parents had been like. Had they wanted their girls to fight? Had they been proud that their girls decided to take that path with their lives? Did their parents wish that they had been born boys? "Am I right? Does Dad really wish I was a boy? Does he wish I was a better daughter, like Katara?"

Sokka sighed. There weren't gonna be any answers in this pitch black.

Finally she made a decision. "There's not point wondering what he wants. I might as well do what I can to help end this war, and then I can ask him after that." She paused for a second. "I think any dad would be proud to have a war hero as a daughter."

After what felt like a long time, Sokka sees a light and follows it. "Sokka!" She hears her sister say before she's embraced by the water bender.

"What happened?"

"You were trapped in the Spirit World for 24 hours!" Katara explained.

"Well it was pretty boring for a mythical place." Katara rolls her eyes at her comment. Sokka overhears the village leader saying he would like to repay the Avatar for what he did. It doesn't take a second though before Sokka says "You could give us some supplies, and some money." Katara reprimands her, but Sokka is determined to get them what they need. The leader agrees to help them prepare for their journey, and then Aang reveals what the next part of their journey will be.

They're headed to an island in the Fire Nation.


	8. Winter Solstice, Part 2-Avatar Roku

The day long trip to the island is intense. Sokka is beyond angry when she realizing that the scarred guy is still on their tales, and doesn't really care when Aang informs her that the fire bender's name is Zuko. She mores care that Zuko and tons of other fire benders are firing at them. After nearly falling to her death, the whole group manages to get away and get to the island. Thanks to a little resting on Appa, Sokka is ready for whatever is thrown their way. She's not going to overanalyze her fighting, she's just going to take on whatever comes their way.

Whatever comes their way is a little anti-climatic at first. Until the Fire Sages show up. And even then, more running is involved than actual fighting. But Sokka is happy when she's able to help by using an old trick of her father's to imitate fire bending. It doesn't work to get the door open, but it does work for tricking the Sages into opening the door. She also helps blind one of the Fire Sages. Unfortunately Zuko shows up to ruin their plan by capturing Aang. Katara and her get chained together, but it gives them a great spot to watch Aang escape from the fire benders and get into the room to talk to Avatar Roku.

When another irritating fire bender names Zhao shows up, Sokka is pretty sure they're doomed. The older man makes a good point about how Aang will have to come out eventually. The fire benders eventually circle the door's perimeter and wait for the door to open.

"When those doors open," Zhao shouts, "unleash all your firepower!"

"How is Aang going to make it out of this?" Katara asks worried.

"How are we going to make it out of this?" Sokka says as her reply.

The answer ends up being Avartar Roku burning everything. Soon Sokka is kneeling over Katara trying to shield her from anything, knowing that her body is barely a shield against fire. Soon enough Avatar Roku disappears and leaves behind a weary Aang.

Sokka and her sister help lift Aang up and lift him to his feet. "We got your back." Sokka says, hoping she sounds supportive. Aang wants to know where the sage is who helped them, but neither of the water tribe siblings know where they are. The trio is able to escape on Appa.

As night time falls, the trio huddle around each other on Appa. Aang is clearly distressed about something, but Sokka lets exhaustion take her away to pleasant unconsciousness.


	9. The Waterbending Scroll

Sokka watches Katara and Aang from on top of Appa's belly. Cleaning out his toes is absolutely gross, but soon enough she'll be done and she can cool off in the water. That is, if she can stop watching the water benders. Sokka can't figure out if Aang is flirting with Katara or just being friendly. Either way, Sokka is almost done with the last paw, and her dip in the water can break them up if anything. Looking away is a bad idea though, because before Sokka can even finish saying Aang's name, she covered in a wave and swept away along with the supplies. She stops herself, but she can't stop the other stuff.

"You just 'practiced' our supplies down the river!" She says angrily. Aang apologizes and suggests finding a place to replace them. Sokka sighs before sinking back into the water. "My life was hard enough when you were just an airbender."

Sokka wants to budget carefully and stick to safer looking stores, but somehow the group ends up on a pirate ship. Katara and Sokka end up looking over the scrolls. Katara and Aang start talking with the pirates, but Sokka is more interested in the scroll she found about weak places on the body and how to attack them. It even has information on how and where to attack benders. When Katara asks to leave and Aang says they'll cast off, Sokka follows after them. Soon enough they're being chased by the pirates, and Sokka can't help but wonder if Aang offended them or if they're running after them because of something else. They don't stick around to find out.

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible." Aang admits.

"I know." Katara grins. "That's why I took this."

Sokka almost wants to scold Katara but instead she starts to laugh. "It looks like we had the same idea." She says with a grin as she pulls out the scroll she took. "Lets just hope we can both figure these out."

Katara decides to start practicing using the diagrams as her way to see how they work, but all Sokka can do is read through her scroll. She's not going to use what she's trying to learn on Katara or Aang.

When Katara snaps at Aang, Sokka isn't surprised. The older sister has seen it building since Aang started learning bending from her. Nevertheless, she glares at Katara so her younger sister realizes how she hurt Aang's feelings. And then, just cause it's sort of fun, she teases Katara into apologizing to Momo, but doesn't get an apology for herself unfortunately.

That night, once Aang is asleep, she catches her sister sneaking away with her scroll. "Hey Katara!" She whispers, catching the girl in the act. "I wanna practice my stuff too, don't leave without me." Katara waits impatiently as Sokka gets her scroll.

"What are you going to practice?" Katara asks when they get further away from Aang.

"I'm going to pretend the tree is a human and practice hitting certain spots."

"Won't that hurt your hands?"

"Probably." Sokka admits. "I'll only keep it up for a bit. I also want to keep a bit of an eye on you."

Her words anger Katara. "Why? Cause you think I can't do it?"

Sokka shakes her head. "No, not at all. I know you can Katara. I just wanna see you do it. I wa-"

Before she can fish her comment, Katara interrupts. "You're lying just like you used to back in the tribe. You don't think I can water bend good just cause Aang did it better. So fine!" Katara says angrily. "I don't want to do this anymore, I'm going to sleep!" Katara turns on her heel and starts to walk back to the campsite. Sokka watches her go, but gives her space. Katara's obviously upset and needs to calm down on her own.

So instead Sokka finds a tree to work with and practices some of the simple moves. Soon her hands get sore. She hears something near the water, so she peaks through the bushes to see what the sound was and is shocked to see the pirates. Sokka turns to run, but is grabbed by one of the pirates.

"No! Let go of me!" She shouts before using one of the moves to hit the pirate in the chest. He lets her go, and she runs.

Before she gets too far she is grabbed by Zuko. "I'll save you from the pirates." He says with a glare that implies the opposite.

Soon Sokka is tied to a tree with Zuko standing in front of her. "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your sister."

"Go jump in a river!" She says angrily.

"Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor." Zuko is crowding into Sokka's personal space so she turns her head away from his. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He puts something around her neck and she jerks away from that too. He pulls back surprised and that is when she sees that he has Katara's necklace in his hands.

"How did you get that?" She demands to know.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is."

"No!" Sokka says angrily.

"Enough of this necklace garbage!" Yells one of the pirates. "This isn't the scroll I wanted." He says angrily.

"Well then we'll search the woods for the boy and your scroll. I'm sure if we find one we can find the other. We'll meet back here."

They split up leaving Sokka and Zuko there. "I'm surprised you trust a bunch of pirates to bring you Avatar." Sokka says looking at Zuko unimpressed.

"I'm surprised you were dumb enough to steal from pirates." Zuko says back, effectively shutting her up.

Hours later when the sun is up, Sokka is unhappy to see that they have caught Aang and Katara. She thought with their bending they might be able to fight them off. So with nothing else to do, Sokka struggles with the ropes.

"Nice work." Zuko says, pleased with the capture.

"I'm so sorry Sokka, this is all my fault." Katara says.

"No it's not." Sokka says trying to reassure her.

"I shouldn't have left you alone."

"I'm glad they caught me instead of you." Sokka says, not wanting to imagine her sister tied to this tree all night long.

"Well now we've caught all of you." Points out an older gentleman.

"Give me the boy." Zuko demands.

"We haven't found the scroll yet." The pirate says. "The girl said your prisoner had it last."

"Wait, why do you want the scroll when you have the Avatar?" Sokka asks the pirates. "Why hand him over to this jerk?"

"Don't listen to her!" Zuko says glaring at her. "She's just trying to turn us against each other."

"You're the Avatar?" One of the pirates asks Aang.

"He is." Sokka says. " I'm sure he'd get you a lot of money on the black market."

Zuko's glare gets even sharper. "Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!"

"Yeah, Sokka," Aang adds. "you should really shut your mouth."

Sokka ignore both of their comments and keeps manipulating the men with her words. Soon a battle breaks out between the pirates and the fire benders. It's the perfect cover to get away. When a knife narrowly misses Sokka's hand, she uses it to cut her ropes and then works to find her two younger companions.

After nearly falling down a waterfall, the trio is able to get away on Appa's back thanks to a whistle Aang had bought earlier.

Safely on Appa's back flying through the clouds, she watches Katara apologize to Aang. Sokka considers telling Katara that Zuko has her necklace, but she decides against it. She has a feeling that the stubborn guy will find them again, and Sokka plans to try and take it from him then. Katara managed to keep hold of the scroll, and Sokka's fine with her focusing her attention on that instead of the missing piece of jewelry.


	10. Jet

After making the decision to walk for a bit instead of fly, Sokka is pretty confident that the uneasy feeling she's been having should go away. Katara seems to want to cause a little trouble, calling her their fearless leader and making little jokes at Sokka's expense. Sokka knows that it is just harmless teasing, but for some reason it rubs her the wrong way. Sokka made the mistake of making some comment about her instincts and now Katara won't let it go. Katara makes a comment about Sokka's instincts knowing everything and the older girl rolls her eyes.

"Haha, very funny." Sokka says sarcastically.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang complains.

"You know who you should ask to carry it for awhile? Sokka's instincts." Katara says with a giggle. Sokka rolls her eyes, getting a little tired of how immature Katara is being. And when Aang joins in, Sokka's ability to hold her tongue slips.

"That's a great idea." Aang is grinning too. "Hey Sokka's instincts, would you mind-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is," Sokka says not paying attention to her surroundings. "that we're safe from the…" She walks through a bush and stops "Fire Nation."

They're surrounded by the Fire Nation because Sokka hadn't been aware of her surroundings. She curses her luck. She yells to run but one of the soldiers starts the plants behind them on fire. "We're trapped!" She yells, before Aang points out that her shirt is on fire. Katara puts it out, but the burn is still there. "If you lets us pass," Sokka says grabbing her club and hoping she looks threatening, "we promise not to hurt you."

"What are you doing?" Katara whispers.

"Bluffing?" Sokka says quietly.

One of the men with an eye-patch laughs. "You promise not to hurt us?" He's suddenly knocked out.

Sokka looks around for who could have done that before Katara points up towards the trees. "Look!"

A young man with hook swords jumps down and takes out two soldiers. Soon he runs forward and takes down two more using his hook swords. "Down you go." He said grinning.

Sokka looks over towards Katara who looks amazed and then Aang who looks shocked. She turns back towards the action to see the young man take down one more soldier who charged at him. Another soldier yelled that someone was in the trees. Sokka watched as everything played out. A young boy took down one soldier by jumping on his shoulders, another sent arrows at the soldiers, and more and more people came out of the trees taking down the Fire Nation soldiers. Aang and Katara were even helping out, using their bending to take out soldiers. Sokka tightened her grip on her club in her hand and prepares to attack one of the distracted soldiers.

Before Sokka got an opportunity too, the young man with the hook swords took him out. "Hey!" Sokka yelled, about to protest.

"Just watching out for you." The guy said with a grin. Sokka could almost hear the word 'babe' at the end of his comment.

A huge boy drops out of the trees to take down two more soldiers and Jets sets up a chain of effects that knocks down another one of the soldiers who looked like he was about to come at Sokka. Before Sokka can get too upset about that, she has something else to worry about. The way Katara is looking at their 'savior'.

Sokka watches them talk to each other and basically just stands around trying to make sure that the soldiers are all taken care of. She hears the names of Jet's group of Freedom Fighters and keeps the comments to herself about the fact that they probably made up all their names.

Jet included.

"We're here." Jet explains when when they get to a certain spot in the forest.

"Where?" Sokka questions. "There's nothing here."

Jet hands Sokka a rope and helps her wrap her hands around it. "Hold on tight."

"Why?" Sokka says shaking her hands so Jet will let go. "What's this do?" Suddenly she screams as she's pulled up into the branches.

Once she gets on her feet up in the glorified treehouse, she watches Katara and Jet interact with a very bad taste in the back of her mouth. She doesn't like the way Jet looks at Katara, or the way Katara looks at Jet. She's intercepted every time she tries to get close to the little group, so eventually she gives up and just studies the area and the group. She doesn't want to stay there long.

At dinner Sokka watches Katara fawn over Jet. Even Aang is charmed. Sokka decides it would probably be impossible to drag her sister away now. Tomorrow, after the magic of what Jet does wears off she'll try to talk the group into leaving. For now she excuses herself from the little dinner to go collect her thoughts elsewhere. It's not like Jet can do too much with Katara with his whole group there.

"Sokka."

Sokka cringes. She didn't want to run into this person at least until the next day. "What do you want Jet?" Sokka says, not even hiding the anger in her voice.

"I wanted to know why you ran off."

"I finished eating. There was no reason to stay and watch some creep flirt with my sister."

"Flirt with your sister?" Jet says with a laugh. "There's a Water tribe girl I wouldn't mind flirting with, but it's not Katara."

Sokka tries to laugh, but she feels her face heating up. She tries to remind herself why she doesn't like him. "Oh, yeah, right! You've been all over her since you met her, even getting on the same line as her to get up here." She doesn't like the sound of her words, it almost sounds like she's jealous of Katara.

"I wanted to make sure she got up here safe. I didn't think you'd be too happy if something happened to her." Jet grins, getting closer to Sokka. "I would've liked to be on the same line as you, but I knew you could handle yourself."

Involuntarily, Sokka feels herself start to blush again. She's glad she doesn't use Katara's hair loops, she has a feeling if she had them, Jet would try to brush them away from her face or do some equally lame thing. "Look I'm tired." Sokka finally says. "So unless you came here for something important, I'd like you to leave me alone." She pauses. "And my sister too." She adds before turning away from the leader.

"Well actually, I needed you on an important mission tomorrow."

Sokka turns back around. "What mission?"

The next day finds Sokka up in a tree with Jet. And no, they are not k-i-s-s-i-n-g. She's not even thinking about that. Except to make a stupid joke. In her head to herself to make this boring job manageable. Soon enough, she has a feeling, that she won't call her instincts, and she jams her jawbone knife into the trunk of the tree.

"What are you doing?" Jet asks, kneeling to get a little too close to her.

"Shh," she says in a quiet tone. "it amplifies vibrations."

"Cool trick." Jet whispers right into her ear, and Sokka can't jerk away fast enough. She puts her ear to the handle of her knife.

"Nothing yet." There's a few moments where she's not exactly comfortable in the position that she's in, but soon it pays off. "Someone's approaching."

"How many?" Jet asks while he gets his hook swords ready.

"I think there's just one."

Jet does a birdcall to his other Freedom Fighters. "Good work, Sokka. Ready your weapon."

She takes her knife out of the tree, but when she realizes that the traveler is just an old man, she pauses. "Wait, false alarm." She whispers. "He's just an old man."

Jet doesn't listen though, he jumps out of the tree, still prepared to attack the old man. "What are you doing in our woods, you leech?" Jet demands to know.

"Please sir," the old man pleads, "I'm just a traveler."

Jet knocks the man's cane out of his hand and the Freedom Fighters surround him. The old man falls over and they pin him to the ground. "Do you like destroying towns?" Jet says angrily. "Do you like destroying families? Do you?"

"Oh please let me go…" The old man says desperately. "Please have mercy."

"Does the Fire Nation let people go?" Jet says raising his leg to kick the man. "Does the Fire Nation have mercy?"

Sokka snags Jet's foot with her club before he can kick. She helps the old man stand. "Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka says disgusted at Jet's behavior.

"He's Fire Nation." Jet says pushing past Sokka. "Search him!" Jet's two lackeys do what they're told.

"But he's not hurting anyone!" Sokka points out.

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother?" Jet yells. "Remember why you fight!" Sokka is curious as to how Jet learned that fact, but she figures that Katara must have told him. Jet's attack on the old man reminds her more of Zuko's attack on GranGran than it does of someone actually protecting people.

When the old man is thrown back to the ground, Sokka speaks her mind. "This doesn't feel right."

"It's what has to be done, now let's get out of here." Jet and the Freedom Fighters push past Sokka, but she once again helps the old man up off of his feet and grabs his cane. As she hands it to him, Jet comes back and grabs her roughly by the arm. "Come on, Sokka." She lets him drag her along, looking back towards the old man a few times.

When Sokka tries to explain to Katara what happened and encourage the group to leave, Katara demands they hear Jet's side of the story too. Watching Jet laze around in his little hammock bed while he obviously lies through his teeth about that happens irritates Sokka, and she tries to stand as close to the door as possible.

Katara's decision to believe Jet about the assassin plot and the knife is the last straw and Sokka just storms away to pack.

She's gathering her things when Jet knocks on the door. "I know you want to leave, but Katara and Aang both want to stay to help."

"They'd probably be a lot more help if they could be taught by water bending masters. Which is what I'm trying to take them too."

"But I don't want them to leave." Jets says stepping into Sokka's personal space. "And I don't want you to leave. You helped save my life today."

"I don't believe your little story Jet." Sokka says not back down. "Maybe yesterday I would've believed your lies, but I've seen what you can do. And I'm gonna make sure Aang and Katara see it too."

Jet sighs before turning to leave. "I wish you'd stop acting like I'm the bad guy, and realize that we're fighting against the same one."

When Katara and Aang come back, Sokka's still unable to convince them to leave, and she's stuck there another night.

"Sokka, I'm glad you decided to join us." Jet says with a dangerous smirk. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak force Sokka to her knees. She rubs at the back of her head where Smellerbee and Pipsqueak had both pulled her hair. Jet reaches out a hand to help her up. He cocks his head and the Freedom Fighters leave. "Walk with me."

Sokka follows along because of his grip on her arm. "I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town."

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation."

"There are people living there Jet," Sokka pleads, "mothers and father and children."

"We can't win without making some sacrifices."

"You're lying to Katara and Aang!" Sokka yells.

Jet stops. They're not too far into the forest, but Sokka can't tell where they are. "Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like you and I do."

"I do understand." Sokka says. Jet looks at her hopefully. "I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."

"What I want is you, Sokka." For a few brief seconds Sokka is surprised when Jet presses his lips against her own.

Sokka shoves Jet away from her and wipes her mouth. "Oh, as if I'd believe that for a second!"

"It was worth a try." Jet says with a shrug. Sokka raises her arms ready to attack Jet, but Jet pins one of her hands to a tree with his hooks and grabs the other hand and pins it too. Horrified, Sokka starts to kick at him, but he backs away.

"I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice." Smellerbee and Pipsqueak suddenly drop down from one of the trees. "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang." Smellerbee gets Jet's hooks and gives them back to him while Pipsqueak restrains her. "Take her for a walk, a long walk."

"You can't do this!" Sokka says struggling while Smellerbee helps Pipsqueak tie her hands together.

Jet just grins. "Cheer up. Sokka. We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today."

It's surprisingly easy to get away from Smellerbee and Pipsqueak. Sokka uses the animal traps against them, and their poor knot tying skills means she's not restrained. The harder thing is convincing the people of the village that she's not a spy. Thankfully, the old man from earlier shows up and everyone is evacuated out before the flood occurs.

When she gets around to finding Katara and Aang, she's beyond happy to see that they have Jet restrained. The big smile her sister gives her when she sees that's she's alive is also great. But the best part is when she punches Jet in the face. Katara refreezes him to the ground, and they take off on Appa. "I just hope you realize that next time you should believe me when I say not to trust anyone." Katara nods her head. "I mean, I would go so far to say that my instincts saved a whole bunch of people today." Sokka says, feeling quite good about herself.

"Um… Sokka?" Aang butts in. "You know we're going the wrong way, right?"

"Well now I do." Sokka says with a sheepish grin before she turns Appa around.


	11. The Great Divide

Sokka and Katara get in a fight about something stupid. Two tribes get in a fight about something stupid. Aang is surprisingly good at lying and Sokka tells herself that she taught him how to master that.


	12. The Storm

Sokka gets a job and almost dies. Aang saves her and her employer. She doesn't get paid. She's happy to be alive, but she's tired. She just hope she doesn't have anymore weird dreams. And she hopes she doesn't get caught in anymore storms.


	13. The Blue Spirit

Sokka and Katara get really sick. Aang leaves to find a cure. Momo can't find them water. Sokka and Katara spend most of the time sleeping. The cure ends up being a disgusting live frog. Neither of the sisters are happy about that.


	14. The Fortuneteller

Sokka's absolute failure at catching a fish is just the beginning of a terrible series of events. There's the whole thing with the platypus bear and that leads her to Aunt Wu. Watching Katara get all googily eyed over the fortune teller worries her.

"Who's next?" The fortune teller asks.

Sokka sighs as she gets up. "Okay, let's get this over with."

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted." Aunt Wu said dryly.

Sokka just laughs bitterly. "I could've told you that." She goes back to looking for more of the puffs she had been eating before. She's sure that Momo took them.

After they all get their fortunes they wander around the little town. Sokka's still sure that the fortune telling is a big hoax, but Katara must have heard something she liked because she's convinced Aunt Wu is a prophet.

"You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy." Katara says in an all knowing voice.

"Well," Sokka says irritated, "Even if that is how my life ends up, it's gonna be because of what I do, not because of what some fakey fortune teller says."

When Sokka learns that the fortune teller is going so far as to say that the clouds can tell her if the volcano is going to erupt, she can't help but want to get out of that town as soon as possible.

Sokka gets dragged along with Aang to get some flower and pretends to be irritated about it, but in all honesty sort of wants one of the flowers for herself. When she gets there, she absolutely horrified to learn that she was right. Aunt Wu was wrong and the volcano is about to erupt.

Sokka is so happy to see her plan work out. When someone undercuts her work by saying that Aunt Wu predicted the village would be safe and it was, Sokka wants to curse. Instead she takes some deep breathes and just keeps reminding herself that her plan worked.


	15. Bato of the Water Tribe

Aang finds a sword made of a whale's tooth and that's how it starts.

The sword reminds her of that faithful day when the men of the water tribe left. Painful feelings of that day start to resurface, so Sokka focuses her attention on trying to see if they can find anything else in the area. She's able to figure what exactly happened in the battle and is happy to see that the water tribe won. When they find one of the boats from dad's fleet Sokka feels a flutter in her chest, and she can't tell if it's hope or fear.

They make camp near the boat, and Sokka's memories take her back to the day when her father left again.

_Sokka has a large pack of her clothes with her. Her father walks towards her and she stops in her tracks. _

_"Sokka…" Hadoka is going to say something, but Sokka interrupts. _

_"I'm coming with you. I heard some of the elders saying you should bring me with. So I'm coming with. I'm strong and I'm brave. You can teach me how to fight! Please, Dad!"_

_"Oh. Sokka." Hakoda shakes her head. "We wouldn't bring you with to fight." He ruffles her hair. "Some of the older men think we should use you as a bartering piece to try to get the Northern Water Tribe to fight along with us. I wouldn't want you to fight. That's not your place." He kneeled down so he was on the same level as Sokka. "You're needed here the most. To be there for your sister, and to help protect and provide for the tribe like you will for your family when you get married."_

_All of the information confuses Sokka. "I don't understand." She says with tears coming to her eyes. _

_"Someday you will. And maybe we will need you one day to come help us with relations between tribes, but that day is not now." Hakoda hugged his oldest daughter. "I will miss you so much."_

Sokka is jolted out of her flashback when she hears something near her.

"Who's there?" She demands grabbing her boomerang.

When the man gets into the light of the fire, he recognizes her. "Sokka?"

"Bato?" She says recognizing the man too. Aang and Katara wake up too and the two sisters run to hug the older man. Right away Sokka wants to know if her father is close, but Bato informs them that the group is probably already to the Eastern Earth Kingdom. Whatever feeling was weighing down on Sokka's chest seems to be absent after she hears this.

Bato ends up taking them to an abbey where he is staying. His room is set up just like home, and Sokka feels herself missing the Southern Water Tribe more than she did before. They tell funny stories and then Bato reveals that he's expecting a letter from their father. Sokka wants to know when.

"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again."

"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad. That would be so incredible."

"I do really miss him," Katara says, confirming how Sokka feels too, "it would be great to see Dad."

"It's been far too long, hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive, but when it does-"

Sokka shakes her head. "It would be great, but we can't. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first."

"Even if we do have time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd have to travel." Katara adds. "We don't have time for a long detour."

"I'm sure your father would understand, and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar."

A little later when Katara is off talking to one of the women at the abbey, Bato talks to Sokka separately.

"I know you and Katara are trying to get to the North Pole so Aang can learn water bending, but I think perhaps you should come along with me to see your father."

"Why?" Sokka asks, genuinely curious.

"You're closer to marrying age now than you were when we all originally left. The tribe has been talking with the Northern Water Tribe trying to convince them to send some men to fight, and there has been talk of marrying you to one of the boy's there as a show of good faith. A way to bring the tribes together. " Sokka is shocked to hear the news. Bato continues, "I'm sure you'd end up in the Northern Water Tribe within the next month if the engagement got accepted, so you could probably be there when Katara and Aang were still mastering water bending."

Sokka feels speechless, but she manages to find some words. "We'll figure it out when the message from dad gets here." She says before hurrying off to find Katara.

The next day they end up ice dodging, and it completely takes up all of Sokka's attention which she is thankful for. She manages to get them through one set of rocks. Because of the currents they get swept up into another even bigger set. It reminds Sokka of when she went fishing with Katara, but this time she's determined to have nothing happen to the Katara's water bending and Aang's air bending, she is able to get them through the rocks.

When she gets the Mark of the Wise on her forehead later, she is proud to wear it. Katara getting the Mark of the Brave makes her feel good too. It's hard to believe the girl who didn't think she could waterbed a fish into a basket was now excelling even further at water bending. But it all comes crashing down when Aang gets the Mark of the Trusted.

When he shows them the map Sokka doesn't know how to feel. Aang walks out feeling ashamed and she watches as Katara looks at the opening with sad eyes. "I have to go to Dad." Sokka says. "But it doesn't mean you have to. What Aang did wasn't right, but it doesn't mean you should put your dream of being a water bending master on hold."

"Oh, Sokka." Katara wraps her arms around her sister in a big hug. "Good luck." She says before going out to follow after Aang.

"You too." Sokka says quietly.

Bato and Sokka are walking through the woods when she hears a wolf howling in the distance. "That wolf sounds so sad, it's probably wounded."

"No," Bato says with a shake of his head. "It's been separated from the pack. I understand that pain. It's how I felt when the Water Tribe Warriors had to leave me behind. They are my family, and being apart from them was more painful than my wounds."

Sokka runs a hand through her hair. "I can't go with you Bato. I wanna do my duty and help the tribes, but more than that I want to choose my own future." She pauses. "And I want to help change the future, and I can only do that with Aang and Katara."

"Your father will understand, and I know he's proud of you."

Sokka is surprised to hear that. "Thanks, Bato."

"I'm sure our paths will cross soon enough." He yells as Sokka takes off running back to the abbey.

Before Sokka can get to the abbey, she runs into Zuko, a beautiful lady, and a horrible creature. It almost sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, and Sokka realizes that's what her life is now.

Sokka won't tell Zuko where the Avatar is, she calls him stupid, and then she gets paralyzed. Unfortunately the beast the woman is riding picks up Katara's scent off of the necklace and starts look for her. Sokka is dragged along for this.

Katara and Aang save her, and then the women from the abbey help her figure out a way for Sokka to save Aang and Katara from the paralyzing beast.

Soon enough the trio is on the back of Appa headed to the North Pole. Sokka watches fondly as Aang and Katara flirt and Aang gives Katara her necklace back.


	16. The Deserter

No one listens to Sokka, Aang tries and fails to learn fire bending, and Katara learns how to heal using water. Sokka's a bit mad that her sister couldn't have learned this trick earlier in life.


	17. The Northern Air Temple

Sokka learns that she's pretty good at figuring out solutions to problems. Perhaps after the war is over she could become a mechanist like Teo's father. Or someone who points out the things that people are doing wrong. That seems like something she'd like to do with her life. Most of all she hopes that she gets out of the war alive.

It's funny how Aang is both the reason her life is in danger and the reason why she is alive.


	18. The Waterbending Master

They make it to the North Pole. First Sokka thinks the place is beautiful. The architecture is amazing, and the princess is too. They talk little at the dinner the first night, but things just seem awkward. Sokka has no idea what to say in front of the other girl who seems to be everything Sokka wishes she could be. Princess Yue has grace and class and is just the most amazing thing Sokka has ever been in the presence of, and Sokka knows the Avatar. Sokka tries to ask her if she wants to hang out later, but she's not even sure if she asks the question properly.

Before Sokka can get too upset over her failure to get Yue to hang out with her (and give Sokka the chance to ask her how she does what she does so effortlessly) something good happens. In the morning, Sokka runs into Yue… Or more accurately follows her around until she gets her attention.

"Princess Yue, good morning! How about that picnic last night?" Sokka says with a big grin. "Boy, your dad sure does know how to throw a party."

Yue's smile puts Sokka's to shame, looking much more composed than how Sokka assumes hers looks. "I'm happy you enjoyed yourself."

"Well, it wasn't much fun after you left." Yue blushes when Sokka says this, and it makes Sokka's face start to heat up too. "So, I still would love to spend more time together. I mean if you're not too busy with everything."

"I'd love to." Yue says with a pleasant little laugh. "I'll meet you on that bridge tonight."

"Great!" Sokka grins. "I'll see you-" Yue puts her hand into Sokka's to give it a little squeeze. The movement surprises Sokka and she falls into the water.

The whole ordeal makes Yue laugh more. "Sorry."

"That's okay." Sokka climbed out of the water. "It was worth it. See you tonight."

Sokka's good mood doesn't last long. The Northern Water Tribe is excessively sexist. Their water bending master won't train Katara and none of the warrior's will even acknowledge Sokka's presence. But the sisters try not to let the situation get them down too much.

Katara ends up spending her day with Yugoda, the woman who teaches the female water benders how to heal. Sokka spends the whole day doing her hair up in different styles. It's not as productive as she knows she should be, but she wants to look good when she sees Yue.

Eventually Katara shows up and tells Sokka all about the betrothal necklace. When Sokka finds out that GranGran is from the Northern Water Tribe, she's surprised. The two try and come up with reasons why GranGran left and they come up with the same conclusion. This tribe was just too sexist.

Sokka's mood worsens after her brief meet up with Yue. First it goes pretty great. Yue compliments her on her hair and Sokka of course compliments right back, telling Yue how beautiful her hair is. Of course, she doesn't know how to shut her mouth, and she also lets it slip out that she thinks all of Yue is beautiful. That's when Yue says that meeting there was a mistake. The princess says that she shouldn't have asked Sokka to come there, and she runs away.

Sokka really hates her big mouth after that.

Sokka continues to hate her big mouth when she encourages Aang to teach Katara what Pakku is teaching him. Not because it's a bad idea, it's a great one. But then the guy catches them and Katara challenges the guy to a fight the next day.

Watching Katara fight scares Sokka. She worries about her the whole time. She cheers when Katara seems to be getting the upper hand and she's happy to find that she's not the only one cheering along.

Too soon Katara is subdued, and it takes all of Sokka's self control to not go punch the guy in the face when he tries to take Katara's necklace.

Sokka's shocked when she learns that her GranGran was supposed to marry Pakku.

"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged." Pakku explains. "I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her."

"But she didn't love you, did she?" Katara says. "It was an arranged marriage. Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

When Katara says this, Yue starts to cry and runs away. Sokka barely hears Aang say to go get her before she is racing off to catch the princess.

It takes awhile and finally Sokka catches up to Yue.

"What do you want from me?" Yue demands.

"I just want to talk to you." Sokka admits. "I think you're so beautiful and so amazing, and I just wish I could be like you." She pauses. "At least I thought that at first. But I think maybe we're a lot alike."

"You don't understand."

"I think I do understand now." Sokka says sadly. "You're a Princess, and I'm… I'm just a Southern peasant."

"No, Sokka…"

"It's okay." Sokka doesn't like the desperate little crack in her voice. "You don't have to say anything. If I see you around, I won't bother you." Yue suddenly grabs her face in her hands and kisses her. Sokka stands there dazed for a second. "Okay, I did not expect that." Yue looks at her warily. "I liked it. I really liked it," Sokka says with a grin. "I just didn't expect it."

"Do you wanna do it again?" Yue says with a grin that puts all of her little smiles to shame. It looks more real, Sokka realizes.

The two end up finding a tiny little abandoned area away from the eyes of anyone else. They talk more openly with each other while their hands are linked. They also kiss a lot.

"I'm so glad we talked to each other." Sokka says. "I'm even more happy that this happened. I've always been so scared about getting married and maybe that was because I don't like boys."

Her words seem to make Yue realize something. "Oh, Sokka. I do like you, a lot." Yue sighs. "But no matter how we feel or who we like, we still have to get married. It's our duty." Yue unlinks their hands. "I don't think we should do this again. I don't know what I was thinking." Yue stands quickly and runs off.

Sokka spends the rest of the night trying to sort out her thoughts.

It doesn't work.


	19. The Siege of the North, Part One

While things seem to be going somewhere with Katara, Sokka feels like she made no progress. The warriors still won't let Sokka join them, despite Katara totally proving that girls can fight just as well as guys can fight. However, Sokka doesn't have a magic necklace that will make whoever she challenges decide to teach her, so on that front she's pretty much hopeless.

She's pretty much hopeless around Yue too. Sometimes the girl will want to meet in the night to kiss and cuddle, but during the day she'll act as cold as the ice they're surrounded by. Other times she won't meet Sokka at night, but she'll spend the day with her instead, showing off her home. It turns out to be one of those days.

"So they don't have palaces in the Southern Water Tribe?" Yue asks.

Sokka, who had been walking along the top of a bridge's wall, sits down on the ledge. "Are you kidding? I grew up in a block of ice. It's not exactly a cultural hub. Katara's the best thing to come out of there."

"Oh, Sokka," Yue places her hand on Sokka's shoulder. "I think you're the best thing to come out of there."

"And I think you're the best thing here." Sokka says looking up at her from under her lashes.

"Sokka, this is wrong."

"What's wrong? We're just taking a walk!" Sokka protests. Yue still looks conflicted. "I know what you need. You need to meet my good friend Appa."

Soon the two are up in the sky. Yue seems impressed. Soon they move closer to each other and are cuddling again. It's something that doesn't usually happen during the day, so Sokka enjoys every minute of it.

"It's so beautiful up here." Yue says blushing.

"Yeah…" Sokka agrees. "But not nearly as beautiful as you." They both lean into each other and kiss, but soon Yue pulls away.

"Oh, Sokka. I wish you were a boy." Yue admits.

"Yeah, so does every body else." Sokka says with a sigh before she turns herself away from Yue.

"Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that." Yue puts a hand on Sokka's shoulder to turn her back towards her. "I wouldn't like you nearly as much if you were a boy, but…"

"But what?" Sokka says giving Yue her full attention.

"Well, I was going to say that if you were a boy maybe I could marry you. But that's not true. The truth is that I'm already engaged."

Before Sokka can even formulate what to say to this, she notices the black soot starting to fall from the sky. "Oh no…" She says nervously.

Sokka explains to Yue what the soot means and heads back to the tribe. But when they get to the steps, Yue stops. "What's wrong?" Sokka asks grabbing her hand to bring her along. "We have to go!"

"No, Sokka." Yue says dropping Sokka's hand. "I can't see you anymore. Not at all."

"Why?" Sokka protests. "We're just friends." She leans closer to Yue. "It's not like we could ever really be together anyway. You made that clear."

"I wish we could just be friends, but I like you too much and it's too confusing to be around you."

"It's confusing for me too." Sokka admits. "But I want to be with you. Even if it's just as friends."

"It couldn't be just as friends Sokka, I already like you too much. It's so hard to have to keep remembering that I have to be with somebody else."

"You don't love him, do you?" Sokka doesn't like how vulnerable her voice sounds. "You don't even sound like you like him."

"But I do love my people." Yue says with an air of finality.

Sokka objects. "You're not marrying them."

Yue tucks a piece of hair behind Sokka's ear and then pats her face. "You don't understand. I have duties to my father, to my tribe."

"And you think I don't?" Sokka says jerking away from her angrily.

"I have to do this." Yue says turning away. "Goodbye."

Soon Sokka is with everyone else in the chief's Royal Palace. When Chief Arnook asks for volunteers, Sokka stands. "Count me in!" She shouts.

"Sokka," the chief says with a serious face. "We do not have any women warriors."

"I know more about the modern Fire Nation than any of you do. I've dealt with them before. My sister has shown that women can fight. I want to prove it to you too."

Sokka's beyond surprised that he doesn't stop her. Soon she finds herself getting the three marks that the other warriors are getting.

"Men," Sokka tries not to take offense. "You'll be infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy." Arnook explains. "That means you'll all need one of these uniforms."

When the young man comes out in the uniform, Sokka bursts out laughing. "What's your problem?" The young man says angrily.

"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that." Sokka explains with a giggle.

"Of course they do." He says irritably. "These are real uniforms captured from actual Fire Navy soldiers."

"When, like, a hundred years ago?" Sokka asks sarcastically.

"Eighty-five." Chief Arnook replies.

Sokka walks over and flicks one of the spikes. "The Fire Nation doesn't wear shoulder spikes anymore. The newer uniforms are more streamlined."

"Why should we trust you?" Sokka can almost hear the 'you're a girl' in the tone of the young man's voice. "Such bold talk for a new recruit."

"Sokka is from our sister tribe, Hahn. I'm sure she'll prove to be a capable warrior, and I value her input." Arnook's words give Sokka the confidence to shoot Hahn a smug look. "Now, our first objective is to determine the identity of their commanding officer."

"His name is Zhao. Middle-aged." Sokka traces imaginary sideburns with her fingers. "Big side burns, bigger temper."

"Sokka, I want you to tell everything you know to Hahn. He's leading this mission." Arnook turns to Hahn. "Hahn, show Sokka your respect." The chief starts to walk away. "I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law."

Sokka's shocked to hear this. "Princess Yue's marrying you?"

"Yeah, sorry sweetheart, I'm engaged." Hahn says in a condescending tone. Sokka can already tell she's going to hate having to work with him. "Why do you care?"

"I don't." Sokka says turning away from him. "Congratulations."

Inside the warrior's base Sokka is stuck next to Hahn and some other boys close to her age. She sharpens her boomerang against one of the grindstones.

"Let me tell you guys, I've courted a lot of girls, but Yue is the finest and she comes with the most perks." Hahn says smugly.

"Perks?" Sokka says annoyed. "What does that mean?"

"Ah, forgot you were there sweetie." Hahn says with a mean grin. "Don't go gossiping to her about this." Hahn turns back towards the group of guy's. "I mean, Yue's nice and everything, but the points I'll gain with the chief aren't bad either."

Sokka huffs. "Princess Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed creep like you!"

"Whoa, don't get your binding in a bunch. What do you care?" Sokka looks away angry. "You're just a simple little girl from the Southern Tribe. What would you know about the political complexities of our life? You just have to worry about which one of your Daddy's warriors your gonna marry if they ever come back from the war." Hahn smirks. "No offense."

Sokka shouts and tackles Hahn to the ground. "You're just a jerk without a soul, so offense!" The two roll around the floor trying to get a few hits on the other. With no other ideas, Sokka starts to pull Hahn's ponytail, and Hahn does the same thing to her.

Arnook comes in and suddenly separates the two of them. "That's enough! Sokka, you're off the mission!"

Sokka's long hair is loose and hanging in locks. She crosses her arms angry. "All right, fall in men!" Hahn puts extra emphasis on the last word. "Everybody listen to what I say and we'll take out this Admiral Cho in no time!"

"It's Admiral Zhao!" Sokka says irritated.

Sokka ends up staying in the warrior's base, sharpening her boomerang even though she's been doing that for what feels like hours.

"Is something wrong, Sokka" Arnook asks.

"Oh, no. I mean, I thought I was gonna go get to fight with the warriors and help prove myself to you, but it's fine. I wanted to keep sharpening my boomerang anyway." Sokka says sarcastically.

"Listen to me. I took you off the mission for selfish reasons." Arnook admits. "I have a special task in mind for you."

That's how she sends up being Princess Yue's guard.

Unfortunately, it would have been better for her to be Aang's guard, because by the time she finds Princess Yue, Aang's been kidnapped by that jerk Zuko.

Sokka hopes they find him soon.


	20. The Siege of the North, Part Two

Sokka, Katara, and Yue all end up on Appa searching for Aang. Sokka doesn't know how safe it is for Yue to leave the Northern Water Tribe, but she figures the princess is safest with her and her sister.

Sokka's surprised to find herself saying something almost kind about Zuko and his inability to give up.

They find Aang and Zuko. Katara knocks Zuko out and Aang makes them bring him along so Zuko doesn't freeze to death. Sokka wishes Aang wouldn't be so kind.

When everything turns red, Yue starts to not feel good. When she tells them the story of how the Moon Spirit saved her life, Sokka can't help but fear that something very bad is about to happen.

Zhao kills the moon spirit, Zuko gets away, and everything goes wrong.

"It gave me life, maybe I can give it back." Yue says to the old man Sokka has seen with Zuko before.

"No!" Sokka protests. "You don't have to do that." She says reaching to stop Yue.

"It's my duty, Sokka."

"I won't let you." Sokka held tightly to Yue's arm. "Your father told me to protect you."

"I have to do this." Yue's hand slipped out of Sokka's when the princess placed her hand on the koi fish. The koi began to glow as Yue closed her eyes for the last time.

Sokka caught her. "No!" She cried out. "She's gone," Tears filled Sokka's eyes. "She's gone."

The entire lake began to light up and the energy floated up in the air to form an image of Yue. "Good-bye, Sokka." Yue leaned her forehead against Sokka's. "I'll always be with you." The princess kissed the top of Sokka's forehead before disappearing. Sokka peered into the koi pond and saw that a single thick streak of white was now in her hair. Sokka saw the moon now reflected in the pond and looked up towards it. The color in the sky came back.

Later, after the Fire Nation is finally gone, Sokka stands on a ledge looking at the moon with Arnook.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen to you daughter Chief Arnook."

The chief put his hand on Sokka's shoulder. "The spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born. I saw a beautiful, brave, young woman become the Moon Spirit." The chief sighs. "I knew this day would come."

"You must be so proud." Sokka said, her eyes on the moon.

"So proud… and sad."


	21. The Avatar State

Hahn finds Sokka on the ship just a few minutes before the group is getting ready to leave.

"What do you want?" Sokka says angrily.

Hahn pulls out Yue's betrothal necklace. "I wanted you to have this." Sokka holds it in her hands cradling it. "I know Yue would have wanted you to have it." He pauses for a moment. "Do you want my help putting it on?"

Sokka shakes her head. "I can do it." She clips it on around her neck. "Thank you Hahn, this is very kind of you." Before he can say anything else, Sokka turns on her heel and starts jogging towards Appa. "I'm sure I'll see you again. We'll probably end up fighting the Fire Nation together sometime soon."

Thanks to the necklace, Sokka doesn't even care when Pakku has nothing to give her. She happily gets up on Appa and gets ready for the next part of their journey. Katara asks her about how she got the necklace, and Sokka explains.

"You don't think he was asking you to marry him, do you?" Katara says eyeing the necklace.

"No way." Sokka says shaking her head. "The guy probably still hates my guts. I bet Chief Arnook told him to give it to me."

Sokka likes the idea of defeating the Fire Lord quickly with Aang's Avatar State. The ways they go about trying to reach his Avatar State amuse Sokka. But once Aang says that he doesn't think they should be trying to bring on the Avatar State, Sokka decides that Aang's choice is the one to go with.

Fong doesn't seem to think so. He attacks Aang and uses his soldiers to subdue Sokka. While Aang gets chased by the air benders, Sokka attacks her captors and runs off to help the younger airbender. Sokka runs into Katara and explains what is happening to her before she attacks more of the earth benders and tries to get one of the bird horse thingies to cooperate with her.

By the time she gets the creature to work with her, Katara's in trouble, and Sokka tries to get to her in time, but Fong keeps her from doing so.

Aang goes into the Avatar State and its just as disastrous as Sokka thought it would be.

Once Aang comes out of it though, Sokka puts an end to Fong's ridiculous ideas by hitting the man with her club.

The trio decides to find their own way to Omashu.


	22. The Cave of Two Lovers

Sokka has to travel though a giant mountain full of tunnels with a bunch of nomads. She gets separated from her sister and worries. She also ends up having to sing to get some ferocious beasts to do what she wants. The whole time she tells herself that if she makes it through the tunnels, she'll end up in Omashu.

But in the end, even when she finally gets to see the city, it's just another bad thing. Omashu has been conquered by the Fire Nation.


	23. Return to Omashu

Sokka invents a terrible disease, the trio gains new enemies, and Sokka learns that she's pretty sure she doesn't want to have kids. Then they escape on Appa like they always do.


	24. The Swamp

The trio gets sucked into a swamp and then eventually separated. It's a terrible as it sounds.

As Sokka is being dragged away by the vines, she uses her machete to stop herself. The vines subside for a few seconds, but soon more return. They try to drag her away again. She hacks at the vines and is able to free herself. She returns back to where their campsite had been, and more vines follow after her.

"Aang!" Sokka yells slashing at vines. "Stupid swamp! Dumb, ugly vines. Katara!" She becomes caught and quickly slices herself free. "You think you're so tough, huh?"

Right after she says that she manages to trip on another vine which lands her right in the mud. When she lifts her head she sees an image of Yue in a beam of light not far from herself.

Sokka stands quickly, putting her machete away as she walks towards the beam.

"Hello? Yue?" With no reply Sokka turns away. "Trick of the light and the swamp gas." She says making excuses. "I hit my head earlier, so I'm obviously just seeing things."

Suddenly she hears Yue's accusing tone. "You didn't protect me."

Sokka looks around then rubs at her eyes. Now scared that a spirit might be there, Sokka pulls her machete back out.

Soon the trio manages to find each other. They also find the heart of the swamp. And then Sokka gets attacked by some swamp monster again. It's not enjoyable. Katara saves her, and then they figure out that there's someone inside the monster. Thankfully he ends up making things a lot easier for everyone by explaining what was going on in the swamp.

Sokka feels a lot better once they finally leave that place.


	25. Avatar Day

Sokka's morning begins with Momo shoving it's hand in Sokka's mouth and it just gets progressively worse from there. Soon they're being attacked by Fire Benders, and while that's nothing new, it is not exactly how she wants to spend her first few minutes of the day. They get away, and Katara remembers her scrolls, and Aang liberates his staff, but when Sokka realizes that she has left her boomerang behind, any joy from escaping leaves her.

Sokka knows they have no time to go back and get it, but it still hurts her to leave it behind.

The day gets progressively worse. Aang gets arrested, Katara keeps solving Sokka's mysteries, and when she gets to Kyoshi to prove Aang's innocence, she upset to learn that Suki isn't there. And then when they try to get Aang to use all the evidence they found, he doesn't exactly pull it off successfully. Then Kyoshi herself appears and admits to the crime. Everything looks pretty terrible.

And then it gets worse.

The fire benders who attacked them that morning show up. The trio does their best to fight against them. Sokka even manages to get the archer to set their bag of explosives on fire. After that, a bag lands next to her and she sees her boomerang sticking out. "Boomerang!" She says grabbing it. "You do always come back." The trio gets rid of the gang that calls themselves Rough Rhinos and Aang doesn't get killed. It's a successful ending to a day that started horribly.


	26. The Blind Bandit

Sokka really likes Earth Rumble. She finds herself getting really worked up with each match. But when the champion ends up being a short young blind girl, Sokka is beyond surprised. She stops cheering so loudly for the Boulder, and keeps her eyes on the girl. She wants to see how The Blind Bandit has become the champion. The way the girl takes out the Boulder so swiftly really impresses Sokka.

Before there's too much time to be impressed though, Aang is challenging the girl to a fight. It doesn't really seem like his style, but Sokka watches on curious. Air versus Earth doesn't last too long, because Aang knocks her out of the ring quite quick. Sokka's pretty excited about winning the gold though.

The next day the trio finds themselves at the Beifong home. Their first attempt at entry doesn't go too well. Of course, when Aang pulls the Avatar card, things get a little easier. They end up being invited to dinner. Dinner sort of ends up being a mess, but Sokka doesn't mind too much. She mostly just sits there enjoying the fancy food.

The good times don't last very long because Toph and Aang end up getting kidnapped. They get out all thanks to Toph. Even though her parents originally object to Toph coming along with them, later that night they change their minds, and the group gains a new member.


	27. The Chase

Sokka almost thinks that she might end up having a problem with Toph. With Katara and Aang sometimes they can get a little silly and immature because they're around each other. And with another younger kid added into the mix, Sokka isn't sure what would happen. But instead of it being her and the earth bender having issues, its Katara and Toph. And Sokka's not exactly sure what she could do to help the two of them get along.

That night is an absolute nightmare. Between Katara and Toph fighting and the mysterious thing chasing them, Sokka does not sleep well. Or at all for that matter. Then the girls from Omashu show up. And even though they get away, Sokka's ego is pretty bruised from Toph saying that Sokka doesn't count as a fighter since she can't bend. When Sokka realizes that they've spent the whole night getting no sleep, she's angry, but more than that she's exhausted. Appa feels the exact same say, and proves it by falling asleep while they're still flying.

As soon as they land Sokka decides to try and get some sleep, but Katara and Toph's fight keeps her awake. Sokka can't really do much to stop her so instead she focuses on helping Aang and Katara clean Appa off so that they can create a fake trail. The group splits with Aang creating a fake trail and the Water Tribe sisters looking for Toph. Instead of finding Toph, the girl in pink and the girl with the weapons find them.

The fight with the two doesn't go to well. The girl in pink is able to render Sokka's arms and one of her legs useless. If the girl in pink wasn't so busy trying to capture Sokka, the water tribe girl would want to ask her to teach Sokka her ways.

With Appa's help, the sisters are able to get away and go look for Aang.

When they find him in the abandoned town, things get worse. Sokka really just wants to sleep, but instead they have to deal with Zuko's evil sister. The princess gets away and then Zuko makes them leave before they can help. Sokka doesn't let herself worry about it too much, instead she lets herself fall asleep on Appa as they continue on their journey.


	28. Bitter Work

Sokka gets stuck in a hole, she bonds with a moose lion cub, and she almost dies. She gets saved by Aang and Toph and then Katara hugs her when they get back to camp. It's not a terrible day.


	29. The Library

When Aang decides on mini-vacations, Sokka is not a big fan of the idea. She continues to not be a big fan during Aang's little performance. Katara's decision to go to Misty Palms Oasis isn't something Sokka really wants to do, but she goes along with slightly less complaining because Katara is her sister and she loves her.

That doesn't mean that she's not still worried about what to do about their attack on the Fire Nation, but she wants to try and not think about it for at least part of Katara's mini-vacation.

Misty Palm's Oasis looks nothing like what Sokka thought it would. The area is covered in sand and very hot. She's not a big fan of the sand benders that surround the area. One of the sand bender's whistles at Sokka, and the way he looks at her makes her feel a bit uncomfortable. She makes sure to keep an extra eye out for Katara and Toph's sake. That is until she sees the mango drink.

The drink leads her to meeting Zei, which helps her figure out where she wants her mini-vacation to be.

Wan Shi Tong's Library is incredibly hard to find. But once they get inside it, Sokka's more than pleased with her choice. Wan Shi Tong is a bit of a creepy creature, and he doesn't appreciate the knot she shows him, but he does let them look around the place.

While Zei seems to be collecting things to read in depth, Sokka just finds what she wants and pockets it. There's tons of scrolls in the place, Sokka's sure the spirit won't miss a few. When she learns about the darkest day in Fire Nation history, Sokka immediately needs to know more. She finds the room that should have the information about the Fire Nation, but the room is full of ashes.

Before Sokka can give up, one of the fox creatures helps her out. The planetarium that shows the sky moving proves to be very useful. The group learns about the solar eclipse. of course, she foolishly says too much and the spirit overhears. Escaping from the spirit proves to be difficult, but Sokka refuses to leave before she learns when the next eclipse will be. Once they learn the date, Sokka and Aang rush off to make sure Katara and Momo got away safely.

Sokka slams a book into the spirit's head and knocks him out. She realizes that a lot of her attacks on people in power seem to be hitting them on the head. But it works, so Sokka's not gonna worry about it. Zei refuses to leave the library, but that's not the worse thing to happen.

When the group makes it out of the library, they learn that Appa is gone.


	30. The Desert

Sokka, desperate because of thirst, decides to drink the juice that is inside a cactus. She doesn't remember a lot after that. By the time her head feels somewhat clear, Aang has gone into the Avatar State because of the sand benders. Katara helps to calm him down and Sokka wishes that she hadn't made the mistake of drinking the juice.


	31. The Serpent's Pass

Determined to make up for causing problems in the dessert, Sokka sets forth making plans to get to Ba Sing Se with her whole heart. Of course, her original choice to take the Serpent's Path is shot down when they learn about the ferry.

Thanks to Toph, the group gets tickets on the ferry. Too soon, a security guard shows up. "Ticket and passports please."

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked nervously.

"Yeah, I got a problem with you! I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar."

"Suki!" Sokka said with a grin before latching onto the other girl and giving her a hug.

"How did you figure it out?" Suki said with a cute pout.

"As if I could forget how you sound when you're mad." Sokka said playfully bumping shoulders with the other girl.

"I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpents's pass." Sokka whined.

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it." Toph bit back.

Suki ran up in her warrior's uniform. "I'm coming too!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come." Suki replied.

"I do, it's just…" Sokka couldn't find the right words.

"Just what?" Suki questioned.

"Nothing. I'm glad you came."

"Me too." Suki said with a grin. "I love what you did with your hair by the way! The white streak looks really good. How'd you do it?"

"It's complicated." Sokka said with a frown.

When they were on the trail and the Fire Nation attacked, Sokka couldn't help but feel a need to protect Suki. Of course, in her rush to protect the other girl, she didn't think about herself. Toph had to earth bend to keep Sokka safe. "Thanks for saving my life, Toph." Sokka said with a grin before running to catch up with the Kyoshi Warrior. "Suki, are you okay? You have to be more careful! Come on!" She pretends she can't see the judgmental look Suki gives her.

That night, after she makes sure Suki has a safe place to sleep, Sokka sneaks away from the group. She sits down once she finds the right spot and looks up at the moon. She stays there like that for quite some time before Suki approaches.

"It's a beautiful moon." Suki says sitting down by her.

"Yeah," Sokka agrees. "It really is."

"Look, I know you're just trying to help," Suki explains, "but I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." Sokka says quietly.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" Suki looks at Sokka.

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone." Sokka can feel the tears gathering in her eyes. "I don't want anything like that to ever happen again." Soon she can feel the salty water falling down her face.

"Oh goodness," Suki wipes away Sokka's tears. "Sokka, what's wrong?"

"I'm still in love with Yue."

"I'm flattered, and you're great," Suki says scratching at the back of her neck, "but I'm not attracted to girls."

"Not you, Princess Yue." Sokka says with a little giggle. Even though there are still tears streaming down her face, she can't help but start to laugh at the interaction.

"Oh." Suki laughs too. "Well, do you wanna tell me about what happened?"

Sokka tells her all about the princess and the Moon Spirit and how the streak ended up in her hair. Afterwards they sit staring at the moon.

"I'm sure she knows." Suki says suddenly breaking the silence. "I mean, I'm sure she's always watching over you. Like…" Suki pauses. "Maybe that's what the streak is about. So a part of her is always with you."

Suki's words really seem to reach Sokka.

The next day Sokka learns why the path is called Serpent's Pass.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Toph yells as she slowly starts to cross the ice.

"You're doing great!" Sokka yells back. "Just follow the sound of my voice!"

"It's hard to ignore." Toph snarks back.

When Toph is almost there, the serpent breaks the ice trail. Sokka doesn't even wait for Toph to resurface, she just dives into the water, swimming out to get the girl. Soon Sokka's pulling her out of the water. "Looks like we're even now for life saving." The water tribe girl says with a smirk.

Hope is born, Sokka faints, and when she wakes up she's pretty sure she's never planning on having children.

"Sokka, it's been really great to see you again." Suki says when they get to Ba Sing Se.

"Whoa, hold on." Sokka says holding a hand up. "Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye?"

"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely. But now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors."

Sokka starts to laugh. "So you came along to protect me?" The two girls both start to laugh.


	32. The Drill

Sokka is declared the plan maker for the group. It feels good. She comes up with the plan to destroy a giant drill and it works. It feels even better. No one likes her names for the group. It doesn't even bother her.


	33. City of Walls and Secrets

Despite a pretty well put together plan to see the Earth King, the group is unable to meet him. In fact, they learn that Ba Sing Se is a lot more dangerous than they previously thought.


	34. Tales of Ba Sing Se

Katara and Toph have a Girl's Day without Sokka and she pretends not to be insulted. She ends up asking Joo Dee to help her dress more like the citizens of the city. The woman seems excited that Sokka's interested in conforming to their culture, and Sokka lets her think that.

The real reason is because Sokka wants to explore the city without worrying too much about spying eyes. She hopes that if she looks more like the people there that she might have the chance to blend in.

Sokka decides to go explore the busier part of the city. Though there seemed like there were some threats there, Sokka thinks that she can handle it. She brought along a fan she got from Suki, just in case. And if that doesn't work, there might be a Dai Li spy who can save her.

Sokka thinks she sees a familiar face and she quickly tries to formulate a plan. She undoes her fishtail braid that her hair is almost always in and lets it fall loose. She sweeps a large part in the front over her face. She looks down at her clothes, happy that she let Joo Dee give her a bit of a makeover. It's not a perfect disguise, but she hopes it works.

Then she strolls into the Pao Family Tea House and gets a seat. She picks up her menu and looks over at the two fire benders. She orders a pastry and some tea, and then uses her fan to cover the majority of her face, . Once she finishes as if by some stroke of luck Zuko is the one to come over to collect her money.

"Thank you for the tea." She says in a voice a little higher then her own. "What's your name?"

"My name's Lee." Zuko lies. "My uncle and I just moved here."

"Hi Lee, my name's Suki." She can use more than just the Kyoshi warrior's fan. "Thank you and … "The plan she's been thinking up comes to fruition. "Well, I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime."

"He'd love too!" says Zuko's uncle.

"Great." Sokka stands. "I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown."

Sokka rushes back to the home after that and demands Katara and Toph do her makeup and make her look different before she goes to meet Zuko. They help her re-do her hair in the side swooped style that covers some of her face. She doesn't explain what they are doing it for, and covers it up with the idea of giving Sokka a makeover since they didn't invite her on the Girl's Day. Once they finish, Sokka figures out the rest of the details of her plan.

When Sokka meets him later she has to hold in a laugh over the way he looks with his hair combed. "Well, look at you." Sokka says with a grin. "You look so cute." She says sarcastically.

"Yeah, and you look quite beautiful with all that make up on your face." Zuko shoots back.

Sokka rolls her eyes. "So, uh… what do you want to do?"

"You're the one who invited me out Suki, I thought you'd have an idea." They end up wandering around until they find some place to eat.

Sokka tries to make conversation to get information out of him, and it almost seems like he's doing the same to her, but at the same time, it could just be the way he treats his dates. They seem to find ways to evade each other's questions. Zuko makes some comment about her eating habits, so Sokka asks him a direct question about him and his uncle. When he comes up with a lie, Sokka forces him to validate it by juggling. The results are pretty hilarious.

"So do you have any siblings?" Sokka asks, running out of conversation topics.

"I have a younger sister. She's kind of intense." Zuko admits.

"I know what you mean." For a moment Sokka can't figure out if she's talking about Azula or Katara. Zuko looks at her expecting more of an answer. "I have a younger sister too. Only about a year between us. But she's so good at everything she does, it gets hard not to compare myself to her." Sokka pauses. "And when I do, it just makes me feel bad about myself." Zuko is still starring at her with something unreadable in his eyes. Sokka realizes that maybe she said too much. "You know what, I've had a great time, but I think I have to go."

"Wait, So.. Suki!" Zuko reaches out to grab Sokka's arm and in a moment of panic she hits him. She doesn't even stop to see what he does.

In fact, she doesn't stop running until she's back at their current living area.


	35. Lake Laogai

After their first attempt at distributing posters about Appa doesn't work, the gang doesn't give group decides to split up so they can put posters in more places. Toph decides to stay behind in case anyone has seen Appa and wants to contact them.

"Sokka?" Sokka turned around to see Jet emerge from an alleyway. "I think I can help you."

Sokka laughs, taking a few steps back to put more space between them. "Yeah," she says sarcastically,"right."

"Sokka, I've changed."

"Tell it to someone who would believe you, Jet." Sokka pulls her club out, hoping he'll back off.

"I don't want to fight you, I'm here to help!" Despite his words, Jet pulls his swords out too.

Sokka isn't usually on the offensive, and she knows her strikes are a little sloppy, but Jet remains only defensive, so it's not as hard as it could be.

"I'm tired of fighting Sokka." Jet says as he drops his swords. "I wanted to help you find Appa." He says as he pulls out one of the missing Appa posters.

Sokka narrows her eyes at him. "I don't trust you." She says angrily. "But because we're desperate, I'll take you to the rest of the group. But you better not be lying."

"Jet's back." Sokka says strolling into their little home via the giant hole in the wall Toph made earlier. The rest of the group turns towards them. "And I don't think we can trust him, but he says he has information about Appa."

"I swear I've changed! I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control, but I don't even have the gang now!" Jet looks at the group with pleading eyes. "I've put all that behind me!"

Aang convinces the group to trust Jet, and Toph assures them that she'll be able to tell if he lies, so they decide to follow his lead.

The warehouse that Jet brings them too is empty, but they learn from the old man there that Appa has been sent to Whaletail Island. Aang decides that the island is where they're headed to.

"All right," Sokka puts the map back with her other supplies. "let's get moving."

"I'll come with you." Jet offers.

"We don't need your help!" Sokka snaps.

"Why won't you trust me?"

"Why do you think?" Sokka replies, but Jet is already walking towards Aang and Katara, who have, in Sokka's opinion, foolishly decided to trust him again.

"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asks once Jet is a safe distance away.

"Pft." Sokka rolls her eyes. "He wishes."

Toph smirks in an all knowing way and Sokka pretends not to notice it.

Sokka is so happy when Longshot and Smellerbee show up and prove that Jet is a liar. But then Toph uses her earth bending trick and says that they're both telling the truth. As much as Sokka wants to just believe that Jet is a liar, she has a feeling that it's more than that. Jet's been brainwashed.

"The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us, and that janitor was a part of their plot, too!" Katara deduces.

"I bet they have Appa here in the city. Maybe he's in the same place they took Jet." Aang turns towards Jet. "Where did they take you?"

"Nowehre!" Jet replies nervously. "I… I don't know what you're talking about!"

"We need to find a way to jog his real memories." Aang says.

"I would be willing to hit him in the head with my club a few times to see if that works." Sokka says with a grin.

"Maybe another kiss from you will jog his memories." Smellerbee says with a nasty smirk.

"Did you kiss Jet?" Katara says, her undivided attention on Sokka.

"What? No way! Why would I do that?" Sokka can hear Toph giggle a little. While the group tries to figure out how to rejig his memories, Sokka corners the younger girl. "Why'd you giggle?"

"You're lying." Toph explains. "About the kiss."

"I am not!" Sokka explains. "I didn't kiss him, he kissed me!"

"I bet you enjoyed it though."

Sokka shoves Toph a bit. "Well that's for me to know and no one else to ever know because you're not going to tell anyone."

Meanwhile Katara was water bending to help Jet remember what had happened to him.

Lake Laogai was terrible. As soon as they thought they were going to find Appa, they ended up walking right into a room full of Dai Li agents. That jerk Long Feng was there too. The fight with the agents reminds Sokka of when she first met Jet. But this time she was fighting right along side everyone else.

Jet and her are the ones to notice Long Feng escaping, and both of them have the idea to run after him. She feels excessively dumb after he seals them in the room with him, neither of the two of them are benders.

"You've cause me enough problems." He says addressing Sokka. "If you want the Avatar's precious bison back, you will do as I say."

"I knew you guys had him." Sokka said tightening her grip on her club. "Tell me where he is."

"Agree to exit the city now, and I'll waive all charges against you and allow your group to leave a long with the Avatar's pet." Long Feng says.

Jet gets into a fighting position. "You're in no position to bargain."

"Am I not?" Long Feng asks with a smug smile on his face.

Sokka mirrors Jet's stance. "You're definitely not!"

"Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

Sokka watches Jet's eyes change. "I am honored to accept his invitation." Without warning, Jet attacks Sokka.

Jet continues to swing at Sokka. "Jet, it's me, Sokka." She dodges and tries to run to the side before Long Feng erects a wall in front of her that she tries to dodge. "You don't have to do this!"

"I'm afraid he no longer has a choice." Jet continues attacking her, and it gets a little harder to dodge. Every time she thinks she might be able to make an attack, she's having to dodge some earth Long Feng has decided to bend. Jet at least looks like he's starting to tire out a little, so Sokka tries reaching him with her words again.

"Jet, I know you remember me!" Sokka says loosening her grip on her club. "Look inside your heart!"

"Do your duty, Jet!"

"He can't make you do this! You're a Freedom Fighter!" Sokka's words seem to have some affect on Jet and his eyes seem to go back to normal.

"Do it! Do it now!" Long Feng demands, but Jet just throws a sword at him. Long Feng dodges and then counters by throwing a rock at Jet that knocks him down. Sokka runs towards him, ignoring wherever Long Feng is going.

"I'm sorry … Sokka." Jet says wincing in pain.

"It's okay, it's okay!' Sokka says desperately as she tries to help Jet up. The young man groans in pain. She leaves him where he is on the ground hoping that the group is close.

"Hey," Jet says in a quiet voice that Sokka can barely hear. "Lean down here so I can tell you something." Sokka leans down close to Jet's face. "I'm sorry about this too." He whispers before he turns her face to kiss her.

When they pull away, Sokka whispers back, "Don't be."

The rest of the group arrives shortly after, all upset as they gather around Jet. Katara tries to heal him, but she's clearly having a hard time. "This isn't good." The water bender says.

"You guys go and find Appa." Smellerbee says. "We'll take care of Jet."

"We're not going to leave you." Sokka says, not sure if she's talking about the Freedom Fighters or Jet.

"There's no time." Sokka's surprised to hear Longshot's voice. "Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader."

"Don't worry." Jet says looking right at Sokka. "I'll be fine."

The group begins to exit. "He's lying…" Toph whispers to Sokka.

"I know." She says as she keeps walking, refusing to look back.

As they fly over Lake Laogai on the recused Appa, Sokka can't keep her eyes off the moon reflecting in the lake.


	36. The Earth King

They make the decision to go to the Earth King now that they have Appa. At first the King doesn't believe them. When they try to show him Lake Laogai, the whole area has been wiped out. But luckily they can show him the drill. Everything seems like it might work out.

"We searched Long Feng's office." says General How. "I think we found something that will interest everyone."

There's a letter for Toph from her mother, and there's a letter to Aang from the Eastern Air Temple. Katara questions whether's there is anything for the Water Tribe sisters and General How tells them some information about their father and his fleet.

They talk about the news for a bit before Katara points out that they're going to have to split up.

"Split up?" Aang says worried. "We just found Appa and got the family back together! Now you want us to separate?"

"You have to meet this guru, Aang." Katara points out. "If we're going to invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready."

"Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I can drop you off at Chameleon Bay to see your dad." Aang offers.

"Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion." Sokka explains. "I think it should be me."

"Are you sure Sokka?" Katara asks. "Don't you want to see Dad?"

"Of course I want to see Dad Katara. But I think it's more important that I stay here and help with the plans. I mean, that is what I'm good at." Katara gives her a look, but says nothing else.

The group says their goodbyes and gives each other hugs. Sokka hears about the Kyoshi warriors being there. She decides to go along with the Earth King to meet them. When they're almost to the Throne Room, she sees three of the warriors talking to each other in the hallway.

"I'm gonna run over and say hi before they come meet you, it's been awhile since I saw them." Truthfully Sokka's hoping the one with her back to her is Suki. It'd be nice to have a friend here since the rest of the group is gone.

The Earth King waves at her as he goes into his throne room and Sokka runs over to the girls. "Hey ladies," Sokka says with a grin. "Is Suki with you?"

The girl she thought to be Suki turns around and Sokka gasps. "Don't you recognize us?" The Fire Nation princess asks.


	37. The Guru

The thing about the Crystal Catacombs is that they are beautiful but they are quiet and lonely. It leaves Sokka alone with her thoughts and that is the exact opposite of what she needs at the moment.

She tries not to, but she thinks.

First she thinks of her mom. Kya, the kindest most beautiful woman of the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka's still remembers when she died. Katara was given her mother's necklace and Sokka was given her mother's responsibilities. She started helping the women more with the chores. That lasted for awhile and when Katara got old enough, she started helping too. Then after the men left for the war, Sokka got even more responsibilities. Katara helped take care of more things around the village and Sokka ventured out to get fish and other food for the people.

Thinking of the men leaving for war reminds her of her father. Chief Hakoda was one most inventive of the Southern Water Tribe chief, and he was also one of the bravest. While he had a pretty small crew, he always evaded capture and was very successful in all he decided to do. In fact, probably his only failure was not having a son. Sokka was sure that her father was proud of his youngest daughter who had now already mastered water bending at the young age of 14. But what had Sokka done that Chief Hakoda could be proud of? The people she tried to protect died. She was foolish enough to get captured. There was nothing she's done that would make her father proud. It was one of the reasons she had let Katara be the one to go see their father.

And then she was thinking of Katara. Her sister was someone who Sokka constantly compared herself too. And yet she couldn't bring herself to think anything negative about her sister. Katara had been by her side for her whole life, and she loved Katara with her whole heart. Sokka wanted nothing more than to know that her sister was safe and happy. After the death of their mother, it seemed like it would be hard for Katara to be happy again. Sokka could always manage to get Katara to smile, but sometimes it seemed like making her smile and laugh wasn't going to keep her happy forever. But seeing Katara become a water bending master and watching her grow was something that Sokka loved. In fact, Sokka would risk getting captured over and over again if it meant that her sister could keep going on the path that she was on.

And then there was Suki. The girl who helped Sokka realize that she could be more than just what she thought she had to be. If it wasn't for Suki, Sokka would probably been captured a lot sooner than now. Suki taught her to fight, but more than that Suki taught her that she could be more than what Sokka ever imagined she could. And now where was she? If those Fire Nation girls were impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, where were the real things? Could they be trapped somewhere in Ba Sing Se like Sokka was, or were they in some Fire Nation prison? Sokka had no clue.

There was another person who Sokka had no clue about and that was Jet. Since it had happened so recently, she could still remember almost even little detail. But there was one part that kept replaying in her mind, their kiss. Jet had been Sokka's first kiss in what felt like years ago but had only been months. The way he had kissed her the first time had been rough and rushed. By the time she met her first love, she had forgotten all about the leader of the Freedom Fighters. But then he came back in her life so suddenly that it brought everything back. And their last kiss had been so different from their first. It was gentle and sweet and smooth and so so sad. Sokka sat there and still couldn't believe that all that had happened. It was always hard to see someone die, especially when you had history with them.

That train of thought led her right to Yue. The princess was the first person Sokka ever told her fears to, and she was also the only one. Yue was also the first person Sokka loved. Sokka had been left with a streak in her hair and a hole in her heart after Yue disappeared.

Sokka sighted and looked up towards the ceiling. She didn't even know if the moon could be seen from here. She wiped at the tears that had begun forming in her eyes, and hoped that she would be saved soon.


	38. The Crossroads of Destiny

"You've got company." One of the Dai Li agents says before they throw someone in. A familiar form lands at her feet.

"Oh hey Lee." Sokka says, almost sound disinterested.

Zuko starts to stand and brushes off the dust from his clothes. "Nice to see you… Suki. That was the fake name you gave me, right?"

"It was." Sokka says in a fake cheerful voice. "Has your intense sister taken over Ba Sing Se yet?" Zuko says nothing.

"So why did they throw you in here?" Zuko still hasn't said anything since he first arrived, but he has sat down faced away from her. "Wait, don't tell me, I think I've figured it out. You and your uncle were the first wave, and when you guys successfully infiltrated the city, your sister came along after. So this," Sokka says tracing an invisible pattern with her hand. "is a trap. So when the group shows up to help me, you can finally capture the Avatar."

Zuko turns to look at her, but turns back around to look at the ground. "I should've told them about you when I first found you. But I was convinced that maybe you had decided to start a new life here. How dumb of me, right?" Zuko's silence is her answer. She tries a new tactic to get him to talk. " You're a terrible person. You have to know that. Always following us! Hunting the Avatar! Harassing my sister! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace!" Sokka pauses. "But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko finally speaks.

"I don't?" Sokka laughs angrily. "How dare you? You have no idea what this war has put me through!" Sokka sits down. "The Fire Nation and the war have taken everything away from me." She presses the heels of her palm to her face to stop the tears. "Starting with my mother."

Zuko turns to face her. "I'm sorry." Sokka almost believes him. After a short pause, Zuko says, "That's something we have in common."

"I'm sorry about yelling at you before." Sokka finally says.

"It doesn't matter."

"It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face." Sokka admits.

"My face?" Zuko touches his scar. "I see."

"Not because of that!" Sokka says getting closer to Zuko. "It's just you're one of the few fire benders who I've seen without their helmets on."

Zuko shakes his head. "You don't have to lie, it's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever," Zuko continues. "But lately, I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe you could be free of it." Sokka sits down next to Zuko, their legs touching.

"What?" Zuko looks straight at her.

"My sister has healing abilities." Sokka explains.

"It's a scar, it can't be healed." Zuko shakes his head.

"My sister has this special water she got from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, and I know she's been saving it." Sokka put her hand on the side of Zuko's face. "Maybe she could use it on you." Zuko grabbed her hand and moved it off of his face, but kept his grip on it. "I mean, think about it. You could teach Aang fire bending, we could help stop the war, we could do it all if we worked together. And I'm sure Katara would want to help you if you help us. Plus I could put in a good word for you." Sokka says with a grin.

Zuko lets go of her hand. "Why would you do that."

"Because," Sokka says reaching up her hand to sweep some of Zuko's shaggy hair out of his face. "If I help you, you'll help me, right?"

"Right." Zuko practically whispers. Their faces are close now, practically sharing each other's air.

Suddenly Sokka sees water coming straight towards Zuko so she swoops in front of Zuko, letting the blast hit her in the back rather than hitting Zuko in the chest.

"Sokka!" She hears her sister cry out, proving her assumption right. Katara comes running up as Sokka lets herself slump on the ground.

"That really hurt." Sokka groaned.

"Well it was supposed to hit Zuko, not you!" Katara explains before glaring at Zuko. She turns to someone behind her. "Sorry Iroh, when I saw him by Sokka, I got over protective."

Iroh just smiles. "No one is hurt, it's fine."

"Um, hello, hi." Sokka says a bit rudely. "I'm pretty hurt." Katara helps her up.

"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing here with the Avatar?" Zuko points towards Aang. Sokka hadn't even noticed that he was there.

"Saving you, that's what." Aang replies cheekily.

Zuko steps towards Aang, but his uncle stops him. "Zuko, it's time we talked." He turns towards the trio. "You should go help Toph. We'll catch up to you."

Sokka is super dumb and should never trust Fire Benders. As she runs away from the group of benders she curses herself for being so dumb. Katara is fighting Azula and Aang is fighting Zuko and Sokka is running off to go help Toph because when it comes to benders she's utterly useless, but hopefully with straightening out a political takeover, she can be useful.

Sokka finds Toph and the Earth King and the Earth King's bear. As much as she tries to figure out what they could do to stop this takeover, it's too late. The best she can do is make sure the Earth King has somewhere safe he can go. The safest place ends up being with the group.

Appa is loaded up with the Earth King, his bear, Toph, the Water Tribe siblings, and an unconscious Aang. Ba Sing Se has been taken over. Sokka watches as Katara tries to heal Aang. The spirit water stops glowing and Katara starts to cry. Then as if by some sort of magic, Aang's tattoos glow and the Avatar wakes. Perhaps all hope is not lost.


	39. The Awakening

"You know Sokka," Hahn says putting an arm around her shoulder, "If you keep acting the way you have been, I think I could fall in love with you."

Sokka sits up, away from Hahn's arm. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Hahn says sitting up, getting more into Sokka's space, "when I first met you, I thought you were annoying. The way you and your sister wanted to break our traditions and disrespect our culture. And then when Arnook let you join the group, just cause of your smart little mouth, I was pissed." Hahn laughs. "When you attacked me just cause I said something about Yue, that was irritating too. But now it's like you've completely changed. It makes me happy that you've agreed to my proposal."

"I never accepted you proposal." Sokka said before she stood and walked away from Hahn.

The Northern Water Tribe boy followed after her. "Yes you did! You took the betrothal necklace from me. I know you're a little slow, but even you have to know what that means."

"A little slow?!" Sokka said turning around to glare at the boy. "Yeah, I've made a few bad choices, but you don't get to tell me that I'm dumb." She turned sharply and kept walking through the hallway towards the deck of the ship.

Hahn finally caught up to her when she stopped suddenly on the deck when she realized her father was there. Hahn notices them too and she sees him slip into his fake personality whenever he's around a chief. It's respectful and kind and nothing like the real Hahn is.

"What are you lovebirds doing here?" Bato said with a grin.

"We had a little disagreement." Hahn explains. "I'm sorry that you thought I insulted you Sokka, I would never want to disrespect you."

Sokka laughed, loud and angry. "Yes, you would. You just called me slow. And you were an absolute jerk to me in the North Pole. You wouldn't even respect a princess, so I'm not even surprised that you don't respect me."

"Now Sokka," Hahn said in a condescending tone. "Calm down, you're acting all emotional."

"Even if I am, who cares? That's my choice. I can act and feel and do whatever I want. And what I want to do is refuse you're proposal. I have no interest in marrying you." Sokka reached around taking Yue's necklace off. "I wanted this because it belonged to Yue, not because I wanted to marry you. I thought you understood that and I thought you were maybe a nice guy. But I was so obviously wrong." She drops the necklace into Hahn's hands. Then she turns back towards Hakoda and Bato who are petting Momo and pretending that they have been doing that all along instead of watching the two of them.

Suddenly Momo runs towards Aang who looks thoroughly confused. Katara and Toph go over to him, so Sokka turns to Hahn. "Leave me alone. We still need you and the Northern Water Tribe's help for defeating the Fire Lord, but from now on you stay away from me." Then Sokka turns towards Aang. She strolls over and hugs him. "Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy!"

"Sokka?" Aang takes a heavy breathe and then he passes out.

Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Aang find a room where they can all talk alone.

"After what happened at Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety. Katara helped us navigate to Chameleon Bay where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he and his bear left. Soon, the bay was overrun by Fire Nation ships." Sokka explains. "Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it out disguise. Since then we've been traveling west. We crossed through the Serpent's Path a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."

"So what now?" Aang asks.

"Sokka came up with a modified version of the original invasion plan." Katara explains.

"It's a smaller invasion. A ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. And anyone else we can get ahold of. We won't be able to mount a massive invasion with the Earth King's armies now that Ba Sing Se has fallen. But the date is still the same. The solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable, so that's the day we will attack. And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage." Sokka drops her voice down to a whisper. "We have a secret… you!"

"Me?" Aang questions.

"Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead! Isn't that great?" Sokka says with a grin.

Aang gave her a weird sort of look before he stormed away towards the deck of the ship. Sokka followed. "The world thinks I'm dead?" Aang says once he stops near the railing. "How is that good news? That's terrible!"

"No, it's great! It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore!" Sokka explains. "And even better, they won't be expecting you on the Day of the Black Sun!"

"No," Aang keeps repeating the word. "You have no ideas. This is so messed up!" Another Fire Nation Ship approaches and Aang grabs his glider. "I'll handle this. The Avatar is back."

Katara shows up to calm Aang down, then Hakoda and Bato go over to talk with the crew from the other ship. Sokka is thankful that she hasn't seen Hahn since she told him to stay away. Soon she doesn't have to worry about him because the other Fire Nation starts attacking them.

They get lucky and a serpent helps them out. Sokka thanks the ocean spirits. And then Yue too, just because.

Sokka and Toph get off at the port to go get food. The two decide to actually sit down and eat somewhere, just as a special treat. It's the first time they've been sent off to do something together.

"So what's with you lately?" Toph finally asks after Sokka and her finish stuffing their faces.

"What do you mean?" Sokka says as she lifts her hand up to tell the waitress to bring them two more plates.

"The way you've been acting? Almost all the things you've said lately we're lies. And you seemed so uncomfortable. In fact, you only started to go back to normal since Aang woke up, and I don't think Twinkletoes has that much of an influence on you."

"Uh… Well, it's complicated." Sokka says, trying to get away from answering.

"We got time." Toph says. "I know you just ordered more food, so we'll be here a bit longer. Spill."

Sokka sighs. There's no way to get out of it, so she just starts talking. "There was this girl Yue in the Northern Water Tribe who turned into the moon. She's the reason I have the white streak in my hair. Not that you knew it was there… But I guess you know now. Anyway, Hahn was her fiancé and he was a jerk. But after she turned into the moon, I guess I was just so desperate to have something of hers to hang onto to that I accepted the necklace. But I didn't think Hahn meant it in a 'betrothal necklace' way, I thought it was more of a 'I'm sorry I'm a jerk' way."

"Yeah, Katara and me didn't really think you wanted to be engaged to him either."

"You and Katara talk about me?" Sokka asks shocked.

"Uh, duh." Toph rolls her eyes. "Neither of us have any romantic interests to talk about."

"What about Aang and the Duke?" Sokka asks with a grin.

"Don't try to change the subject." Toph steers them back on track. "As soon as you knew Hahn was there, you became a totally different person. Well, Hahn and your dad. When you weren't pretending to be someone you're not in front of them, you were hiding from them. It wasn't very fun for me and Katara. I mean, I don't really need you there, but Katara could've used your help. I think she's going through some issues with your dad or something."

"Well that's not fair. I wanted to be the only one with daddy issues." Sokka tries to make a joke.

"Oh, well there's no denying that yours are going to ruin your life. Katara's brave enough that she'll confront him about them, but you're probably just going to keep trying to be what you think he wants you to be." The food arrives and Toph digs in immediately.

Sokka just stares at her food. She suddenly doesn't feel hungry anymore.

When they get back to the ship, they learn that Aang is gone. Right away, Toph and Sokka rush to start packing up their things. The girls are going to have to take Appa to find the Avatar. She hears a knock on her door and turns to find her father there.

"Can I help you?" Sokka asks as she shoves things into her bag.

"I just came to ask you what happened between you and Hahn. When I met him he told me that he was your fiancé. And then you had the necklace to prove it. But I saw you break things off with him." Hakoda explains. "I was just trying to understand what happened, and since I haven't seen much of you, I thought I better ask before I lose the chance."

"Look, I'm sorry I can't be the perfect daughter and unite the tribes through a marriage, but I can't." Sokka closes her bag.

"No one ever asked you to do tha-"

Sokka interrupts Hakoda."I don't understand what you want me to do! It feels like everything I do is wrong. How am I supposed to make you proud when nothing I do is right?!" Sokka can't even control the words coming out of her mouth.

"Sokka, why would you think that?" Hakoda asks, looking at her concerned.

"What am I supposed to think?" Sokka can feel the warm tears starting to run down her face. "I know you didn't want me to be a girl! You gave me a boy's name for goodness sakes! But I still wanted to try to make you proud, but I have no idea how to!"

Suddenly Hakoda's arms wrapped around her, squeezing her in a strong hug. "I'm so sorry that I ever made you feel that way Sokka. I'm sorry that I made you so confused. If I could go back I would make sure you never had to feel this way." He walked her over to a place where they could both sit down.

Sokka was still crying, so Hakoda put an arm around her and started to fill the silence with her words. "You are my first born. You have no clue how scared I was the day you came into this world. You were so small and tiny. I remember holding you and I thought I would break you if I held you too tight. I told your mom I wanted to give you a strong name, and that's why we decided on Sokka. I remember when I called you Sokka you grabbed one of my fingers in your hands, and you had such a tight grip that I knew I made the right choice."

Hakoda rubbed Sokka's back, helping her calm down. "I already told your sister how the two of you are my entire world. I could have never imagined that she would become such a brave bender, and that you would become such a wise leader. I am so proud of you and I am so amazed that you are my daughter. I know your mother would be too."

They find Aang on the island where Roku's temple once was. They explain their plans for the invasion, and they find Aang's damaged staff. Aang agrees that it is a good idea to keep his survival a secret. Then they head deeper into the Fire Nation.


	40. The Headband

Aang enrolls himself in Fire Nation School, Sokka pretends to be his mom, and they hold a secret dance party. The whole group has fun, and they escape the Fire Nation quite easily. Sokka hopes this continues happening.


	41. The Painted Lady

Katara pretends to be The Painted Lady, they sort of save a Fire Nation town, and they help clean a river. It totally ruins the schedule and plan Sokka has tried to make, but she's glad they did it anyway.


	42. Sokka's Master

"That's it!" Aang exclaims after the group learns about Piando. "That's what you needed all along, Sokka."

"A sword?" She says glancing up at the gorgeous thing.

"Not the sword, a master." Aang explains as Sokka takes the sword down from the rack. "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Piando."

"That's a great idea." Katara says. "I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Pakku. Everyone needs a teacher."

"I learned from the badger moles." Toph adds. "They don't talk, but they're still good teachers."

Sokka pulls out the blade and really looks at it. "It would be nice to be a master sword fighter. All right, I'll talk to him."

"What are you wearing?" Katara asks when she sees Sokka.

"Aang's clothes. They sort of fit, right?" Sokka says as she pulls her hair up into a high ponytail like the one Zuko used to have.

"Barely. They look like you're wearing hand me downs that do not fit." Katara walked over and helped Sokka tie her hair up. "And what happened to your chest?"

"I wrapped it." Sokka explained. "I don't know if Piando will teach girls. So to avoid that problem completely," Sokka gestures to herself. "I changed."

"Well good luck, bro." Katara says with a big grin.

"Master, my name is Sokka, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword."

Piando keeps turned with his back towards Sokka. "Sokka. That's an unusual name."

"Oh, uh, really, uh…" Sokka said nervously. "Where I come from, the Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name…" She pauses. "For Fire Nation colonials."

"Let me guess." Piando writes on a piece of parchment. "You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town. And you think you deserve to learn from the master."

"Well, actually, I've been all over the world." Sokka admits.

"Yep, here we go." Piando says in an all knowing voice.

"And I know one thing for sure:" Sokka kneels. "I have a lot to learn."

Piando glances back towards her. "You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself."

"I know. Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth." Sokka frowns. "But the truth is… I don't know if I am worthy."

"Hm, I see." Piando smiles. "Well then, let's find out together how worthy you are. I will train you."

At the beginning of the day Fat beats Sokka easily. But after all of the things Piando teaches Sokka during the day, Sokka is able to win one of the spars.

"You've had a good first day of training." Piando says sitting next to Sokka.

"I have?" Sokka barely believes him. "But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on!"

"You messed up things in a very special way." Piando admits. "You are ready for a real sword."

"Are you giving me one of yours?" Sokka asks, very excited.

"No." Sokka groans. Piando continues talking. "Your sword must be an extension of yourself. So tomorrow, you will make your sword."

Sokka makes her own sword out of the meteorite that fell. It's perfect.

While they wait for the sword to get fixed, Sokka asks for Katara to help heal her chest. The wrapping has left the whole area sore. Both decide the wrapping is a bad idea.

"I'm sure Aang's shirt is tight enough already. Plus the clothes Piando gave you are loose, so you can't really tell." Katara explains.

"I'll take your word for it." Sokka says with a shrug.

"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me." Fat gives Piando the sword Sokka made. "No, it certainly wasn't your skills. You showed something beyond that. Creativity, versatility, intelligence… these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you." Piando kneels and presents the sword to Sokka who takes it. "You told me you didn't know if you were worthy," Piando stands. "but I believe you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."

Sokka lowers her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Master. You're wrong. I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry." Sokka offers her sword back to Piando.

"I'm sorry, too" Piando say before he swings his sword at Sokka. She dodges the attack before she unsheathes her sword and blocks a thrust from Piando.

The benders get ready to help her, but she raises her hand to stop them. "No, this is my fight, alone."

"Excellent work, Sokka." Sokka watches Piando carefully, but the master just sheathes his sword. "I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar."

"How did you know?" Aang asks.

"Oh, I've been around awhile. You pick things up." Pianso wipes the dirt of his face. "Of course, I know from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try 'Lee'. There's a million 'Lees'." Sokka almost snorts thinking of Zuko.

"But why would you agree to train her if you knew she was from the Water Tribe?" Katara ask. Sokka whipped her head around towards her sister, glaring at her for revealing her gender.

"Her?" Piando's eyes widened. "I don't know how I missed that one."

Sokka scratched at the back of her neck. "Sorry for lying about that too."

"It doesn't matter. The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all." Piando brings Sokka her sword. "Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you'll become an even greater master than I am."

Fat catches them before the leave and gives Sokka a Pai Sho tile. Sokka gives Toph a chunk of the meteorite. The gang continues on their journey.


	43. The Beach

A guy who makes things explode attacks the group. They get away, but it sucks that they're being chased again.


	44. The Avatar and the Firelord

Roku gives Aang a history lesson that he relays to the group. The explosion guy doesn't show up. Sokka has a feeling it is the calm before the storm.


	45. The Runaway

Toph becomes "The Runaway", teaches the group how to scam, and gets in a fight with Katara.

Katara gets mad, acts like everybody's mom, comes up with her own scam, and gets sent to prison.

Aang fights Sparky Boom-Boom man, who is renamed Combustion Man, and the group escapes from the city they scammed.

Sokka gets a Hawk. But not for long.


	46. The Puppet Master

Katara learns blood-bending. It's as horrifying as it sounds.


	47. Nightmares and Daydreams

Aang has a lot of nightmares, but in the end he finally gets some sleep. The few days they have before the invasion go by quickly.


	48. The Day of the Black Sun, Part 1

"We've been looking everywhere for you." Aang says once he finds her. "The boats are ready to leave."

"I messed up Aang." Sokka says solemnly.

"What?"

"The invasion plan was my moment of truth and I completely flubbed it." Sokka runs a hand through her hair. "I just fell apart."

Aang puts a hand on her shoulder. "Sokka, that speech wasn't your moment of truth. That was just public speaking, and nobody's really good at that."

"My dad is!" Sokka exclaimed. "He explained the plan perfectly and inspired everyone, like a real leader should."

"Look, your moment of truth isn't gonna be in front of some map; it's gonna be out there on the battlefield."

"You seem so confident about everything," Sokka said looking up at Aang. "how do you know we're gonna win?"

"Because I already failed the world once at Ba Sing Se. I won't let myself fail again." Aang says with a conviction most kids at his age don't have.

Sokka's plan for the submarine's work. Sokka's able to figure out plans to deal with most of the problems that come their way. But then Katara and her hear their dad cry out in pain.

"How does that feel, dad?" Katara asks as she tries to heal him.

"Ah, a little, better. I need to get back to the troops." Hakoda tries to stand, but he is too weak to. "Ahh!"

"You're hurt, badly." Katara explains. "You can't fight anymore."

"Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission Katara, I won't let them down." Hakoda tries to stand again, but the same thing happens. "Ahh!"

"Can you heal him any faster?" Sokka asks Katara.

"I'm doing everything I can." Katara says, and Sokka believes her.

Sokka pauses for a moment trying to work out a plan. "I'll do it."

"No offense Sokka, but you're not exactly Miss Healing Hands." Katara says.

"No." Sokka stands. "I'll lead the invasion force."

"Don't be crazy Sokka." Katara says worriedly.

"I'm not. The eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano by the time it does." Sokka explains.

"You can do this." Hakoda says confidently. "I'm proud of you."

"I still think you're crazy," Katara says with a grin, "but I'm proud of you too."

Sokka gets on Appa and soon they land near the soldiers.

"Listen up, everyone." Sokka says with a voice she didn't know she had in her. "I want the tanks in a wedge formation. Warriors and benders in the middle. We're taking that tower," Sokka points at it with her sword," and heading for the royal palace." They get into the formation. "Charge!"

The Fire Nation starts to fall back and Sokka hears Bato say that they are on their way to victory.


	49. The Day of the Black Sun, Part 2

"Dad!" Sokka stands to approach her sister and father. "You're on your feet again."

Hakoda sits. "Thanks to your sister. I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe's there's some way I can help."

"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet." Sokka explains.

"Let's hope our luck holds on." Hakoda notices Katara looking at something. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah." Katara says looking towards something. "Is that… is that Aang?"

Once Aang returns, it's nothing but bad news. The group realizes that the Fire Nation must have known about their upcoming invasion. But they don't give up. Katara stays with everyone else, but the rest of the group goes to search for the Fire Lord. With Toph's help they find the place.

Unfortunately the powerful Fire Nation Royal they find is Azula, not Ozai. She kept some of the Dai Li agents with her, which makes fighting her a little harder than they predicted.

Once they take the agents down, Sokka realizes what Azula is doing. "Wait! Aang! Toph! Stop attacking! Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true." Azula says calmly. "I'm giving it my all."

"You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph says angrily.

"Um, right, I think your friend just said that, genius." Azula says sarcastically. "And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."

Toph growls. ""I'll roll your whole head!"

"She's just baiting you again." Sokka explains.

"Okay, so what do we do, just ignore her?" Aang asks.

"We don't have a choice. We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow." Sokka says starting to walk the opposite direction that Azula was leading them in.

"It's a trap." Azula says coolly. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Toph and Aang hesitate, but Sokka keeps walking forward. "Ignore!"

"So, Sokka's your name, right? My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time." That gets Sokka to stop when she hears Azula say that. "She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came, and she gave up on you."

"Ha!" Sokka laughed, not even turning towards Azula. "She doesn't need anyone to rescue her. She probably escaped on her own."

"Not after what I did to her." Azula says cruelly.

Sokka turned sharply and charged towards Azula. Toph keeps Azula from stabbing Sokka by pinning the fire bender's hand to the wall. Sokka grabs Azula by the shoulder and forces the other girl to face her.

"Where is Suki?" Sokka practically growls. "Where is she? Answer me!"

Aang tries to get Sokka to stop. "Sokka, she won't talk."

Sokka ignores him. "Where are you keeping her?"

"Oh," Azula says almost conversationally. "Sounds like the firebending's back on." She kicks her leg in a wide arc sending a fire blast that strikes Sokka. She uses a few more fire bending tricks to free herself. "Dad's all the way at the end of the hall then down a secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you now." Azula says before she runs away.

"I fell for it!" Sokka says ashamed. "I used up all our time."

"It's not your fault, Sokka. Azula was ready for us." Toph says trying to comfort her. "She had every move planned out."

"And now it's too late." Sokka says sorrowfully.

Toph and Aang convince Aang to wait to attack Ozai and escape from the underground bunker. They go back to their invasion force and only have a few minutes to explain what happened before they have to figure out what to do about the attacking fire benders.

"How are we all going to escape?" Sokka tries to figure out.

"We're not." Hakoda explains.

"Then our only choice is to stand and fight." Sokka says determined. "We have the Avatar, we could still win."

Hakoda shakes his head. "With the Avatar we could still win, but on another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together."

It's hard to leave all the adults behind, but soon the group and the rest of the younger fighters of the invasion force are on Appa, escaping from the Fire Nation.


	50. The Western Air Temple

After a lot of walking they make it to the Western Air Temple. While others explore the temple, Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Toph gather to figure out what to do now. They decide to go back to their old plan of attacking before the comet comes. Finding a fire bending teacher is the part that none of the group know what to do about.

Then Zuko shows up. He offers to teach Aang fire bending, but the group decides they don't want him around. Toph points out that Aang still needs a fire bending teacher, but all three of the old trio don't want to trust the fire bender. Zuko ends up hurting Toph, which makes them want to get rid of him even more. But then he helps save them from Combustion Man, and Aang reconsiders his offer for teaching him fire bending. The group reluctantly agrees to let him join because it's the only way Aang will learn how to fire bend.

Sokka shows Zuko to his room. "So, here you go, home sweet home, I guess, you know, for now. Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uhh… welcome aboard." Zuko smiles at her as she leaves the room. "This is so weird." She says to herself as she walks away. She realizes that she forgot to leave the blanket she has in her arms with him, so she turns back around.

"Let me tell you something, right now." Sokka hears her sister say. "You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends… right then and there. Permanently." Katara slams the door and storms away.

Sokka counts to ten in her head before she knocks on Zuko's door. "Forgot your blanket." She says as she walks in.

"Uh, thanks." Zuko says looking up from where he had been slumped. "Did you hear any of-"

"Yep. I thought her threat on your life was a good touch." Sokka sits next to him on the bed. "And you thought you were the only one with an intense little sister."

"Still think she'll heal my scar for me?" He says looking at Sokka. The way their seated reminds Sokka of the Crystal Catacombs.

Sokka shakes her head. "And don't expect me to dive in front and save you next time. More than likely I'll be helping her take you out." Sokka stands. "Katara's got Aang covered, but if you hurt my sister or Toph …" Sokka pauses. "Well they're strong girls, I'll let them destroy you themselves." Sokka strolls out of the room after that, feeling a bit better.


	51. The Firebending Masters

Zuko has a hard time fire bending, but Sokka's still great at jokes. She's also great at getting him angry, but unfortunately even that doesn't make his fire bending stronger. But then Zuko and Aang go off on an adventure where they learn to dance and the two of them can fire bend better. Sokka and Katara laugh about it later. And a little bit in front of the two guys.


	52. The Boiling Rock, Part 1

"If someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?" Sokka asks as soon as she gets Zuko away from the group.

"What do you mean?"Zuko immediately questions. "Who was captured?"

"When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken." Sokka explains. "I just want to know where they might be."

"I can't tell you." Zuko says.

"What?" Sokka narrows her eyes. "Why not?"

"Trust me. Knowing would just make you feel worse." Zuko turns to leave.

Sokka grabs his arm. "It's my dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."

"It's not good, Sokka." Zuko tries to tell her.

"Please." Sokka begs.

"My guess is, they were taken to the Boiling Rock." Zuko finally admits.

Sokka gets Zuko to tell her a little more, but the fire bender seems to start to suspect her plans so she decides to cut the conversation short.

"Not up to anything, huh?"

Zuko's presence surprises Sokka and she falls off of Appa. "Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"

"I'm never happy." Zuko says.

Sokka rolls her eyes as she starts to pick up the things that fell out of her bag. "Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong." Zuko jumps off of Appa. "It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko."

"You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it." Zuko stays on the ground while Sokka climbs up on Appa. "I'm going with you."

"No." Sokka says setting her bag sown. "I have to do this alone."

"How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares." Sokka sighs and grabs her stuff to jump down. Zuko starts walking in a certain direction. "We'll take my war balloon."

Sokka's a few steps behind Zuko when she hears him do something that almost sounds like a laugh. "What?" Sokka asks, trying to figure out if he's laughing at her plan.

"One of the first things you said to be was about how I'd never get you into a Fire Nation prison. And then you kicked me off the side of my ship." Zuko says.

"You remember that?" Sokka asks, disbelievingly.

"You're pretty hard to forget." Zuko says. "I just can't believe we're where we are now."

"Yeah…" Sokka says, surprised at Zuko's comment.

"I think your uncle would be proud of you." Sokka can't believe she's trying to make Zuko feel better. "Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard."

"It wasn't that hard." Zuko admits.

"Really?" Sokka asks. "You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?"

"Well, I did have a girlfriend, Mai."

Sokka smiles and looks at Zuko with interest. "The gloomy girl who sighs a lot?"

"Yeah." Zuko smiles. "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."

"She's really pretty." Sokka admits. "I mean, the girl in pink with the magic fingers is cute, but I could see why you'd be more interested in Mai."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko says, sounding insulted.

"Last night you said, and I quote, 'I'm never happy'. It's like you were made for each other." Sokka says with a grin.

Zuko bristles."Thanks… I guess? What about you?"

"What about me?" Sokka leans out over the side of the balloon looking at the sea below them.

"Have you dated anyone?" Zuko asks and Sokka snorts.

"I went on this one date with this really cute guy in Ba Sing Se. His name was Lee." Zuko starts to blush. "I never found out what happened to him."

"So that's it. One date with this Lee guy?" Zuko runs a hand through his hair.

"Well, aside from Lee, there were two others, but both of them died after I kissed them." Sokka explains.

"They died?!" Zuko exclaims. "You do know to take time to breathe, right?"

"Okay, no insulting my kissing technique." Sokka says angrily. "And their deaths had very little to do with my kissing."

"But it was still involved a little?" Zuko teased.

"Not really." Sokka defends. "The first one was Princess Yue, and she sacrificed herself to save all water benders. She became the moon."

"That's rough." Zuko says. "So you kissed a girl?"

"Did more than that." Sokka says with a nasty grin. Zuko blushes. "The other one was the leader of the Freedom Fighters. The first time he kissed me was not really welcome. He was trying to trick me into believing him." Sokka sighed. "But the next time was different. Jet had bee-"

"Jet?" Zuko looked at Sokka. "Dark hair, uses hook swords?"

"Yeah." Sokka says with a grin. "You know him?"

"Lee did. Jet wanted him to join his gang." Zuko explains.

"You would've made a great Freedom Fighter." Sokka says with a grin.

"Well once he found out I was a fire bender he retracted the offer." Zuko explains.

"That's rough," Sokka says copying Zuko from earlier, 'buddy."

"There it is!" Zuko yells, which wakes Sokka up. "There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught."

Zuko's wrong. The steam causes the balloon to not work anymore. They end up crash landing, and Zuko's unhappy to learn that Sokka planned for the balloon to just be a one way ticket. Sokka gets rid of the evidence that they are there and then they break into a supply room that has prison guard uniforms. Then they start looking for Sokka's dad.

Or at least they try to. Some bully who became a prison guard is harassing one of the prisoners. The guard ends up having Sokka help him escort the prisoner to something called the cooler. When Sokka puts Chit Sang, the prisoner, into the cooler she quickly observes the thing. It feels like the Southern Water Tribe in there with how cold it is. Eventually the Warden shows up. He seems like a very hard man to work for.

Later Zuko finds Sokka in the yard. He informs her that there are no Water Tribe prisoners there. Sokka pounds her fist on the wall in frustration. She feels so frustrated with herself. Zuko starts rambling about something, but Sokka stops listening. She recognizes Suki in the yard.

Sokka enters Suki's cell almost as soon as she finds out where it is. "What is it?" Suki says angrily. "Did I do something wrong?"

Sokka crosses her arms. "You mean you don't recognize me?"

Suki glares at her. "You people all look the same to me."

Sokka huffs. "After all we've been through, I put on a helmet and you forget all about me." Sokka sniffs pretending she's sad. "I recognized you without makeup." Sokka pulls her helmet off.

"Sokka!" Suki runs up and hugs the Water Tribe girl. "It's you!"

They hug for awhile before Sokka asks, "The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?"

Suki shakes her head. "I don't know where they are. They locked me in here because I'm the leader."

"Well you won't be here for long." Sokka says confidently. "I'm gonna help you bust out."

It is easily said, but not easily done. Zuko tries to keep Sokka from getting in trouble and gets himself caught. On top of that, it takes awhile for Sokka to even come up with a plan to break out. When she finally figures it out, she rushes to find Suki and Zuko. They're both mopping, and the three go to hide behind a staircase. Sokka explains her plan, but Chit Sang overhears. They end up having to include him in the plan. Chit Sang helps get Zuko into the cooler.

"I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson." Sokka says when she opens the cooler.

"Yes, I have…" Zuko shows Sokka the screws. "Completely."

Sokka smiles and lifts her visor. "I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago." Sokka whispers. "They'll be waiting for us at the shore."

"Someone's coming!" Zuko grabs Sokka and pulls her against him into the cooler. Zuko shuts the door and the two are left chest to chest.

The two can hear two other guards outside the cooler talking about new prisoners coming. In the end one mentions how there are some war prisoners coming.

"War prisoners." Zuko mentions once they are gone. "It could be your father."

"I know." Sokka says.

"Well, what should we do?" Zuko asks. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"

"I don't know! Is it right for me to risk Suki's freedom, all of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?" Sokka asks, wanting to pull her hair out. It's then when she realizes how close the two of them are.

"It's your call, Sokka." Zuko says, seeming like he's not even bothered by how close they are to each other. They wait awhile longer just to make sure that there are no other guards coming. "So, uh," Zuko starts to say quietly. "Is Suki your girlfriend?"

Sokka giggles. "I wish. She's the most amazing girl I know. But she doesn't like girls. But I'm sure I'll find someone eventually." Sokka pauses. "Not at this prison though. Ready to break out?" She grins.

Sokka plans to just leave, but before everyone can get into the cooler, Zuko asks again about her father. He mentions the honor part and she regrets ever saying the word. Sokka tries to say that she should just quit before she fails, but Zuko won't accept it.

"Look Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Sokka moves away from Zuko.

"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again…" Zuko goes on.

"Seriously, not helping." Sokka says glaring.

Zuko grabs her shoulder. "You have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."

Chit Sang tries to rush them, but Sokka decides to stay behind. Sokka tries to get Suki to leave, but she refuses to leave Sokka behind. Zuko stays behind too.

It ends up being a good idea to not use the original escape plan, because the next day Chit Sang and his little crew get caught. That causes a lockdown to happen. Sokka barely pays attention, watching the gondola instead. Suki holds her hand to try and keep Sokka's nerves from getting too overwhelmed.

At first it seems like Hakoda isn't there, but soon someone is yelling at one of the prisoner's to get out of the gondola. Hakoda steps out.

"Dad…" Sokka says shocked.


	53. The Boiling Rock, Part 2

Sokka can't help but worry while she watches Hakoda and the Warden interact, so as soon as she can she rushes off to his cell.

Sokka entered her father's cell. "Thank goodness you're okay."

Hakoda rises to his feet and sticks his fist out. "If you take one step closer, you'll see just how 'okay' I am."

Sokka lifts her helmet mask. "Dad, it's me." She's a bit tired of no one being able to recognize her. Though she supposes it's a good thing.

Hakoda wraps Sokka in a big hug. "You know Sokka, you should be more careful with that guard outfit on. I almost punched you in the gut."

"I know." Sokka says with a sigh.

Later, Sokka questions his father while pretending to stand guard outside his cell. She finds out about the Kyoshi Warriors. Sokka tells her father about how Zuko is on their side now. Then she mentions her failed escape plan. They joke a bit about figuring out a new way to escape.

Sokka gets to pretend to beat Zuko up and she doesn't even think about when they were stuck in the cooler together. Not at all. She tells him about the plan before he gets dragged off to see the Warden.

Sokka goes to tell Suki the plan and as soon as she's done Sokka's getting dragged to meet the Warden herself. Chit Sang's confessing about who the impostor guard is but surprisingly enough, Chit Sang says that the guard who has been bullying him is the impostor.

Sokka lies her way into getting all of the prisoners released into the yard and from there her plan begins. Chit Sang helps start a riot. Suki captures the Warden, saving Sokka from having to figure that part out. Zuko breaks the handle for the gondola so they can get away. Hakoda recognizes Azula and Ty Lee. That's when the plan gets pretty complicated.

Ty Lee leaps up and climbs the line while Azula uses a handcuff and fire blasts trick to catch up to them.

"This is a rematch I've been waiting for." Suki says determined.

"Me too." Zuko says. Sokka resists the urge to roll her eyes, and then the three are climbing on top of the gondola to meet Azula and Ty Lee. Sokka helps both fight their respective opponents, but really both seem like they can handle themselves. When the Warden manages to tell the guards to cut the lines, things get complicated. And then Mai saves them all.

"Dude! You're ex-girlfriend is the best!" Sokka says cheerfully.

Zuko may grunt in agreement. Sokka can't tell. He does more than the grunt, Zuko helps them find a way off of the island in his sister's airship.

Katara is beyond surprised to see that they brought Hakoda and Suki home. And Chit Sang, but not a lot of them pay attention to that. The Water Tribe family gets a reunion hug and it feels really good.


	54. The Southern Raiders

For a brief time while Sokka's orienting herself when she wakes because of the attack, she catches a glimpse of Zuko practically tackling her sister to protect Katara from falling rocks. She almost feels jealous, which she almost has a crisis about, but then she watches Katara get mad at Zuko.

Another bombs shakes the temple and Sokka decides to get her head out clouds and help with the escape plan. Zuko runs off to deal with his sister and Sokka tries to get her sister and the Avatar to get out of the temple. The whole group ends up having to separate. It's hard to say good-bye to her father so soon, but Sokka knows there is not much of a choice. Sokka, Suki, Toph, Katara, and Aang escape on Appa while the others escape on the airship. They manage to save Zuko after he and her sister fall off the ship, and Azula saves her herself.

The group that got away ends up camping and Aang points out that camping makes it feel like old times. Zuko makes a joke about chasing them around. It obviously rubs Katara the wrong way. Sokka tries to lighten the mood by toasting to Zuko, but it just upsets Katara more. Katara walks away and then Zuko follows. Sokka finishes her drink and then follows after. She's not sure which of the two she's more worried about. She overhears the two fighting, but stays out of the way.

"This isn't fair!" Zuko complains. "Everyone else seems to trust me now, even your sister! What's with you?"

"Oh, even my sister trusts you now!" Katara says furiously. "She's not the best judge of character, remember?" Sokka takes offense to that. "She was the first person to trust you, way back in Ba Sing Se! And what happened there?" Katara pauses. "You turned around and betrayed her, and I'm sure you'll do it again. You'll betray all of us!"

Zuko closes his eyes. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"You really want to know? You can start by apologizing to Sokka." Katara stops for a moment, acting like she's thinking about something. "Hmm, and then maybe you could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King. Or, I know! You could bring my mother back!"

Katara storms away, laving Zuko. Sokka sneaks off behind her a few seconds later, following after Katara.

Sokka finds Katara in her tent a little later. She doesn't want to give away that she has been eaves dropping, so she comes up with a different reason as to why she's bother her sister, one that isn't completely false.

When she first comes in, Katara glares at Sokka. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know if I could sleep in here with you tonight." Sokka says holding up her blanket. "It seems like it's been a long time since we've shared a tent."

Katara smiles, but still seems suspicious. "That's the only reason?" She asks raising a brow.

"Don't think I'm weird," Sokka says sitting down. "but today when Azula almost died, I got worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Katara asks, clearly confused.

"Yeah. Zuko almost lost his sister," Katara bristles at the mention of the fire bender. "And it made me realize how many times I could've lost you. Even way back before Aang came into our lives. Like when I left you alone when the tribe was attacked and mom-" Katara cuts Sokka off by practically tackling her with a hug.

"Alright, alright, you can stay." Katara says when she lets Sokka go. "Do you wanna call Suki and Toph and make it a sleepover?"

Sokka shakes her head immediately. "Sisters only." She says with a grin.

Zuko decides to break the sisters only rule when he breaks in while Sokka is changing. She about to yell at him to get out, but she remembers Katara who is already asleep. Zuko's whole face turns red and he leaves. Sokka quickly ties her shirt up and goes after Zuko. She forgoes the pants part since the shirt is long enough.

"May I ask what you're doing sneaking into my beloved younger sister's tent in the middle of the night?" Sokka asks when she finally catches up to Zuko.

"I went to your tent first." Zuko says, not looking her in the eye.

"So you have a thing for Southern Water Tribe girls?" Sokka asks with a smirk.

"No!" Zuko says, face flushing.

"Well now I'm hurt." Sokka says with a frown. "You don't think I'm pretty?"

"I didn't say that!" Suddenly Zuko does make eye contact with Sokka, and she feels herself start to blush. "You're very pretty Sokka, beautiful ev-"

"Woah-kay, Sifu Hotman-"

"Only Aang calls me that." Zuko grumbles.

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka says rolling her eyes, "What were you looking for me for?"

"I wanted to apologize-"

"I forgive you." Sokka says interrupting Zuko.

"I didn't even say what I was apologizing for." Zuko frowns.

"Well, you did a lot of things to me that you should apologize for." Sokka says with a shrug. "There was the first time we met and you tried to take me prisoner, the time you and those pirates captured me, that whole mess in Ba Sing Se, I mean, there's a pretty long list, I assume it was just one big blanket apology for your actions against me."

"Oh." Zuko pauses. "Yeah, I guess it was one of those."

"Well, you're forgiven." Sokka says with a grin. "But I'm sure that's not the only reason you're here. So what's on your mind?"

It ends up being about Katara. Zuko ends up asking about the day their mother died, and even though it's a painful memory, Sokka tells him about it. Afterwards, they split ways and Sokka goes back to Katara's tent to sleep.

The next day Sokka wakes and finds Katara gone, and sees that her sister must have packed some of her things away. Sokka journeys off to find her, but not before grabbing something to eat. She ends up getting distracted by building a flower crown with Suki, but then she remembers what she was going to do.

She finds Katara, Aang, and Zuko by Appa. Sokka hears Katara say that she's going to find the man who killed their mother. And then Zuko reveals that Sokka told him what happened. Aang and Katara have a little disagreement, and Sokka surpassingly finds herself agreeing with Aang. Of course, when she voices her opinion to Katara, her younger sister accuses her of not loving mom the way Katara did. Sokka can't believe Katara would say that so she storms away.

That night Aang lets Katara and Zuko go off on Appa to face the murderer of their mother. It leaves Sokka, Aang, Suki, and Toph in the group.

It's an interesting mix.

Suki, Sokka, Toph, and Aang end up making more of the cute flower crowns. Toph gives up and makes a stone crown instead. Aang makes Katara a crown after he finishes his, and it inspires Sokka to make one for Zuko too. Suki makes one for Momo and then they all team up to make a big one for Appa.

Toph also makes Aang practice his bending and during that time Suki and Sokka spar. It's a good time, but it exhausts Sokka.

She's glad for it though, because it keeps her from thinking about Katara and Zuko.

Eventually Katara will tell her what happened with the whole mess, but the evening when Katara comes back, Sokka's just happy to see her sister.


	55. The Ember Island Plays

Sokka convinces the group to go see _The Boy in the Iceberg_. She's very excited when they agree.

The curtain rises to reveal a set that is supposed to look like the South Pole seas. Katara's actress is an older, more robust woman, and Sokka's actress… Well Sokka's actress is a sight to behold. Her outfit is tight and very revealing. Sokka can't help but think that if she wore something like that she would freeze in the South Pole. There is a very deep collar that shows off her very ample cleavage, and a skirt with two big slits up their sides, showing off the actresses long bare legs.

Katara's actress sighs. "Sokka, my only sister! We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas, yet never do we find anything fulfilling!"

"All I want is a man!" The Actress playing Sokka says. "I'm desperate!"

The audience laughs and Sokka cringes. She already regrets her decision to come to the play.

"Is a man the only thing on your mind?" Katara's actress says with a frown.

"Well, I'm not too picky." Sokka's actress says, leaning over the boat, putting even more of her cleavage on display. "I'll take anyone at this point."

"I can't believe this!" Sokka says leaning towards Katara. "This might be the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me."

"I'm sure much more embarrassing things will happen." Toph says with a nasty grin.

The actress playing Katara is now standing up in the canoe. "Everyday, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope! For hope", the woman says, starting to cry. "is all we have! And we must never relinquish it, even… even to our dying breathe!" A light starts to glow on stage. Both actresses stand in the canoe. "It appears to be someone frozen in ice, perhaps for a hundred years."

"But who?" Sokka's actress says and she pulls herself up onto the iceberg in a weirdly provocative way. "Who is the boy in the iceberg?"

"Waterbend! Hi-yah!" yells Katara's actress and then Aang's actress appears and for a few moments Sokka can enjoy that rather than fretting over her own actress. "Who are you, frozen boy?" asks Katara's actress.

The actress laughs in a very high-pitched voice. "I'm the Avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun!"

"An airbender!" cries Katara's actress. "My heart is so full of hope," She drops to one knee, "that it's making me tear bend." The actress grab's Aang's actress's leg and sobs dramatically.

"What're you, like 12?" Sokka's actress says looking at Aang. "Too young for me." She says with a sigh.

"Actually I'm 112!" Aang's actress says cheerfully.

"They you're too old." Sokka's actress says with a sigh. The audience laughs and Sokka drops her head in her lap.

Sokka has to admit that Katara's pretty right about the guy playing Zuko reminding her of what Zuko used to seem like. But once again she's left to feel embarrassed by the way they portray her at Kyoshi Island- uninterested in the warriors since they aren't the men her character's apparently so desperately looking for.

"You know, if you tried smiling, I think you'd be pretty cute." says Sokka's actress. She currently tied to a tree while Zuko's actor stands in front of her with his arms crossed. "You know if you untied me, I'd probably stay. It's been forever since I've been around a guy my age."

"I don't have time for flirting!" says Zuko's actor. "I have to regain my honor!" Zuko and Sokka both avoid looking at each other.

Sokka thought that part was bad, but it gets worse. She watches her actress and Jet's actor get lowered on a small rope platform. A large blue banner pulled by a stagehand crosses the stage.

"I wiped out that nasty town just for you Sokka." Jet's actor says grabbing Sokka's actress by the waist and pulling her close.

Sokka's actress just about crawls on top of him. "Oh Jet, you're so bad." They kiss as the prop is lifted back up.

Sokka wants to disappear. Toph laughs.

It gets worse when they get around to the Northern Water Tribe parts. Actress Sokka and Actress Yue stand in front of a Northern Water Tribe background.

"You know, I've been with a lot of guys since this journey started, but Yue, you're so pretty I think I want to be with you too." Sokka's actress pauses. "Wanna make out?"

"I don't like you like that Sokka." Yue's actress says. "Now, I have to go. I have important moon duties to take care of!" She exits on a moon prop.

"Well if you can be with her, be her." Sokka's actress says before pulling out a hair clip with a streak of white hair clipped to it and pinning it in her hair.

Suki laughs. "So that was the infamous Princess Yue?"

"It didn't happen like that." Sokka grumbled, crossing her arms.

Actress Aang prances around in a Koi costume and then it's finally intermission.

The group finds a place to sit during intermission. "So far, this intermission is the best part of this play." Zuko says.

"Well I'm sorry I made the mistake of wanting to come here." Sokka says with a big frown. "Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm just a person who goes around kissing people."

"I thought you did kiss Princess Yue." Suki says.

"And I know you kissed Jet." Toph adds.

Sokka huffs upset at both girls. "Okay! Fine! Maybe!" She says angrily. "But I don't dress like that!"

"At least the Sokka actress kind of looks like you." Aang says angrily. "That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!"

"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Toph says.

Aang stands up irritated and groans. Katara tries to calm everyone down by pointing out that the portrayals aren't accurate, but Aang and Toph both shoot her down.

Toph seems to be the only person happy with her portrayal. Things are pretty okay to watch from then on, until Jet shows up again. Jet's character is brainwashed and then hides underneath a rock, but it's Sokka's actress's reaction that really irks Sokka.

"Come back!" The actress wails. "I only got to kiss you once!"

Soon it shifts to the Crystal Catacombs.

"I have to admit Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive." Sokka's actress says, nearly on Zuko's actor's lap.

"You don't have to make fun of me!" Zuko actor says with a frown.

"But I mean in!" Sokka's actress puts her hand on Zuko's thigh. "I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me!"

Sokka tries to look every which way but at Zuko. She hears Suki gasp and she looks up to see that Actress Sokka and Actor Zuko are both very passionately making out. Sokka stands then and storms out into the lobby.

The rest of the group comes out during intermission. Sokka can hear Suki talking about the team losing a lot, and then Katara makes a comment about Suki getting captured by Azula. Sokka breaks into the conversation because she doesn't want it to turn into a fight.

"I hate this play!" She says angrily.

"I know it's upsetting, but it sounds like you're overreacting." Katara says making Sokka feel immature.

"I'm not overreacting. All of you know I'm nothing like that!" Sokka grumbles.

"What I didn't know was that you kissed Zuko." Toph says with a smirk.

"I didn't kiss Zuko! That's not what happened in there." Sokka whips her head towards Zuko. "Tell them!"

"Yeah, all she did was touch my face." Zuko says quickly.

"We don't need to hear all the dirty details." Toph says still grinning.

"Ugh!" Sokka groans. "You know what?" Sokka turns on her heel. "I'm gonna go give that actress a piece of my mind." Sokka storms off before they can stop her.

Sokka jumps out in front of the actress playing her. "Can I help you?" The actress says.

"Yes, please." Sokka says with a little glare. "I'm a pretty big fan, and I can't believe you're playing Sokka like that!"

"Aww…" The actress coos. "I have a fan? That's so awesome. Do you want an autograph?"

"I.. uh… Sure?" Sokka holds her poster out to get signed. "I just mean, why would you play a character that just kisses everybody? Or more accurately, why would a character like that exist?"

"Woah, woah, wait." Her actress says. "There's so much more to my character than that! Like sure, she's kissing everybody, but think about it." The actress finishes signing the poster and hands it back to Sokka. "She's a teenager. And she has to go off and travel with the Avatar. And she comes from some tiny little village. Of course she's gonna want to kiss people. And be with people. Like there's nothing wrong with it. It's what normal teenagers do. I mean, maybe she wants some sense of normalcy in what seems like a pretty stressful life." Sokka just stares at her in shock. "Well, anyway, I gotta go! The last act starts soon!" The actress runs off and Sokka just wanders back to her seat, still pretty shocked.

The actors playing them go to the Fire Nation, the actress playing Aang doesn't die, Katara's actress plays the Painted Lady and cries more, Sokka's actress gets a sword and doesn't flirt with Piando which soothes Sokka a bit, and the Invasion starts.

Katara's actress says she loves Aang like a brother, and Actress Aang is fine with that, but if the way Aang tenses is anything to go by, the real Aang is not.

They make it to the Royal Palace, but like what happened in real life, no one is home.

Actor Zuko enters. "Actually, I'm home, and I want to join you."

Actress Sokka drops her boomerang and leaps into his arms. "I was hoping you would say that." She says giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well that was terrible." Sokka says standing up, "and thankfully that's it. The play's all caught up to the present now."

"Oh?" Suki says lifting an eyebrow. "Ae you going to jump into Zuko's arms and give him a kiss?" Sokka shakes her head furiously. "Well then sit back down, the play's not over."

Sokka sits. "But it is over, unless…" Sokka pauses for dramatic affect. "this is the future."

The future that plays out on stage is not a good one. Azula kills Zuko and Ozai kills Aang.

The group walks back to their lodgings. Katara and Aang walk further behind the group talking about something.

"That wasn't a good play." Zuko says.

"It was horrible." Suki says.

"You said it." Toph agrees.

"I dunno, I thought my actress was pretty good." Sokka admits. The other three look at her like she's crazy.

"I just said I was confused!" She hears her sister yell before Katara speeds up to catch up to the rest of the group. Sokka thinks she can hear Aang saying that he's an idiot, and Sokka wants to find out the rest of the details so she can figure out if she agrees with him or not.

But there's time for that later.


	56. Sozin's Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King

"If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead!" Zuko says angrily before he storms off.

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to change all that." Sokka says standing, before she takes her robe off revealing her bathing suit. "Beach party!"

Katara surfs, Sokka plays in the water and Suki joins her, Aang plays in the sand, and Toph even joins in. Toph shows off her sand bending skills.

Suki and Sokka start to work on their own sand castle, but Sokka realizes Zuko is nowhere near the beach party she orchestrated.

When he does finally appear, it's not to join the party. He destroys all of the sand sculptures and starts attacking Aang. Sokka ends up getting forcibly dragged away from her relaxing party to find the two guys of the group.

Everything gets much less relaxing when they learn of Ozai's plan. And even when Sokka comes up with a brilliant plan of attack, Aang just can't seem to bring himself to follow through with it. It just keeps getting more and more complicated when Aang goes missing. The group splits up to look for him, but has absolutely no luck. Zuko comes up with an idea to find Aang by using June. They travel to the Earth Kingdom to find her.


	57. Sozin's Comet Part 2: The Old Masters

"Hey, I remember her!" Sokka says standing behind Zuko. "She helped you attack us!"

"Yep." Zuko says walking towards her. "Back in the good old days."

"Oh great." June says when she recognizes them. "It's Prince Pouty." Sokka giggles and Zuko glares. "Where's your creepy grandpa?"

"He's my uncle. And he's not here."

June notices Sokka. "I see you worked things out with your girlfriend." Both immediately deny this accusation. Very loudly. "Okay, okay. Sheesh. I was only teasing. So what do you want?"

After a little threatening, June agrees to help. But Nyla, her mole, can't find Aang's scent. It's as if he's disappeared of the face of the earth. So they have to come up with another plan. And Zuko does. Sokka's almost scared that someone might be taking her place in the plan making position.

The group gets found by Bumi, Pakku, Jeong Jeong, and Piando. They do their introductions as quick as possible, and Suki asks how the masters all know each other. They learn about the Order of the White Lotus. And they find Iroh.

They all make their plans for what they are going to do. Zuko and Katara are headed to the Palace to defeat Azula. The Order of the White Lotus are staying in Ba Sing Se to help free the city. And Sokka, Suki, and Toph are going to stop the airship fleet, with or without the help from the Avatar.

Before Katara leaves on Appa, Sokka finds her. The first thing she does is wrap her sister in a giant hug. "I know you can do it Katara." Sokka says, still holding on tightly.

"I know I can too." Katara says confidently. "Thanks for always believing in me Sokka, it helped me finally start believing in myself too." Sokka can feel the tears starting to from in her eyes, so she knows Katara's probably tearing up too.

"I can't believe we've come this far. It seems like just yesterday we were in that canoe fishing." Sokka says. "I'm so glad I got to have this adventure with you."

"Well it's not over yet!" Katara says stubbornly. "You know I have to help everyone, so tomorrow I'll expect you ready to start going around the world again helping people rebuild."

"Yes ma'am!" Sokka says with a grin. The sisters let go of each other.

"Well," Katara says with a sigh, "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yep." Sokka says. "And keep a close eye on the future Fire Lord. Don't let him do anything too stupid in his ongoing quest to regain his honor."

"Okay." Katara agrees. "And when you see Aang tell him that I'm waiting for him."

"Waiting to give him a big smooch?" Sokka says with a grin.

"Sokka!" Katara blushes.

"See ya Katara." Sokka says running off. "Love you!" She yells.

"Love you too!" Katara yells back. Sokka can hear the tears in Katara's voice just as much as she can feel the tears running down her face.


	58. Sozin's Comet Part 3: Into the Inferno

Sokka, Toph and Suki are riding on an eel hound when Sokka finally says it.

"I love you two." Sokka says. "And I wouldn't choose any other people to do this mission with. With the best earth bender and the strongest warrior with me, I know we can do this."

"What about Suki?" Toph says with a grin. Suki playfully swats her. "I will say this, it's weird to hear you so positive Sokka, but maybe your optimism will actually help us out."

Suki just grabs Sokka's hand and squeezes. "I love you too Sokka. You're the best friend a girl could ask for. I'm so happy I met you."

Toph rolls her eyes. "Enough with the mushy stuff. I love you guys too, but don't tell anyone I said that."

"Of course not." Sokka says with a grin. "Wouldn't want to ruin your rock hard reputation."

Neither of the girls laugh at Sokka's joke, but she doesn't even mind.

Using a trick that shouldn't work, the trio empties out the airship and takes control. Aang shows up just on time and starts battling Ozai. And then things get complicated. Sokka comes up with the plan of crashing the airships and then things get hard. They get on top of the airship, but Suki gets separated from them. Sokka doesn't know what's going to happen next.


	59. Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang

Sokka and Toph are running on one of the three airships still left in the air. "Toph, metal bend the rudder so it's jammed in a turning position. The ship will spiral and slam into the others." Toph does exactly what Sokka instructs and the ships crash into each other. "Have I mentioned how sweet it is that you invented metal bending?" Sokka asks with a big grin.

"You could stand to mention it more." Toph says pleased.

A fire bender comes out of the ship and fires at the two girls. It causes them to fall of the side, so Sokka uses her sword to stop the fall. It doesn't work the best, and Sokka feels her leg break when she lands on the platform.

Before she can even register the pain, Toph falls off, and Sokka grabs onto her hand.

Two fire benders come out and Sokka uses her boomerang to stop them from fire bending. She loses her space sword soon and more fire benders come out. "I don't think the boomerang's coming back, Toph. It looks like this is the end." Both girls start crying. Suddenly the airship gets struck by another one. Sokka lets Toph fall onto it and jumps down herself and is reminded of her broken leg. She falls over in pain.

"How did that happen?" Toph asks. "Did boomerang come back?"

"No," Sokka says looking up. "Suki did."

After everything is done, they find Aang. Suki and Toph have to support Sokka because of her broken leg, but the injury doesn't dampen Sokka's spirit. "You did it! You were amazing!"

Suki approaches Ozai. "So did you, you know… fish the job?"

"I'm still alive." Ozai says slowly. Suki backs away.

Aang explains how he took Ozai's bending away. The group jokes around a bit and Suki proves that there is one thing she isn't good at.

Katara and Sokka are reunited and Sokka clings tighter to her than she ever has before. Katara's obviously worried about the broken leg, but there are more pressing things to worry about. Like their reunion with their father.

They find him in the Fire Nation Coronation Plaza. "Dad!" They yell running to embrace him. Or in Sokka's case, limping with her crutch.

"I heard what you two did." Hakoda says wrapping his girls in a hug. "I am the proudest father in the world." Hakoda turns to Katara. "And your mother would be proud, too."

Sokka lets the two have her moment because she sees the Kyoshi Warriors. "There's my favorite warriors!" She says limping over to them. "So I have to know how does it feel to be in uniform again?"

"It feels great!" says a familiar voice. Sokka recognizes her.

She points her crutch at Ty Lee. "Careful! Ty Lee is pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior again."

"It's okay." Suki explains. "She's one of us now."

"Yeah, the girls and I really bonded in prison. And after a few chi blocking lessons, they said I could join their group. We're going to be best friends forever." Ty Lee hugs two other warriors and they all smiles.

"She got to become a Kyoshi Warrior before I did?" Sokka frowns and grumbles. "That's not fair."

"You've been a Kyoshi Warrior since I taught you." Suki says.

"But I didn't get to wear the pretty outfit or the face paint." Sokka complains.

"I can help you with your fitting!" Ty Lee says with a wink. Sokka flushes, but doesn't refuse. Zuko gives a speech, but Sokka spends most of it sort of flirting with Ty Lee.

Much later at the Jasmine Dragon, Sokka tries to paint a picture of the group gathered. Everyone has their complaints, from Katara's hair loops to Iroh's belly, but Toph likes it so Sokka counts it a win. She watches Katara and Aang escape outside to probably rekindle their romance and rolls her eyes. It's an all around happy ending, but Sokka's curious about what's gonna happen next.


End file.
